MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY
When it comes to guns, drugs, power, money, respect, and sexual display, people run away. [...] [I'm] ready to show that 'forbidden funk' isn't rubbish. It's music and culture.
What is Baile Funk?
Baile funk, or funk carioca, is a type of dance music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over 25 years ago. Baile funk is created in Rio's favelas, or hillside slums. Favelas are battled over in a gruesome "civil war" between military police and armed gangs.[1] Funk carioca is a loud dance music inspired by Miami Bass, rap, electronica, and traditional African drumming. It has what is considered some of the most vulgar and straightforward lyrics in music; detailed songs about sex, drugs, and partying are prevalent. Because of the violence in the community, another strong theme of funk carioca is finding strength to fight against the gangs. Paul Sneed of the University of Kansas believes that "the bailes conjure up and sustain a morally and politically charged musical space that joins the young people together, emotionally elevating them above the harsh conditions of their lives into a spiritual state that makes available to them the feeling of living in a better world."[2]
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"Baile Funk", Photo, riobailefunk.net
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[1] Favela on Blast. Dir. Diplo. Mad Decent and Mosquito Project, 2010. Online.
[2] Sneed, Paul. "Favela Utopias: The "Bailes Funk" in Rio's Crisis of Social Exclusion and Violence." Latin American Research Review 43.2 (2008): 57-79.JSTOR. Web.
[2] Sneed, Paul. "Favela Utopias: The "Bailes Funk" in Rio's Crisis of Social Exclusion and Violence." Latin American Research Review 43.2 (2008): 57-79.JSTOR. Web.