15.1.07

What is Rio Baile Funk?

For me Rio baile funk is absolutely the best dance music available at moment. All though I listen to and enjoy a huge variety of different music styles, Rio baile funk has got something that really cought me.

The ruff, yet swinging beats, the brutalness of the lyrics and sounds, the huge bass that goes though you in the middle of a corridor of speakers. The simpleness of the music: no hi-fi tricks, just sheer fun and playing with the music. As one of my dj-friends put it: It’s idiot music, but that’s just why it sound so good.

Baile funk is based on miami bass and old school electro beats made with the legendary drum machine TR-808. Loops of these beats are reused, mixed with brazilian samba percussion (tambores) and different effects (like gun shots for instance). The whole thing is topped with cruel horn samples and brazilian rapping that sounds often more like cheesy shouting. The beats are ruff and hard-hitting; their simple, but there’s loads of bass and what’s most important: The rhythm is guaranteed to make the booties shake. Most of the lyrics are obscene and explicitly sexual or deal with ghetto life full of guns, violence and drug factions.

In Finland I could only dig the music, but coming to Rio has really opened my eyes to the power of the culture involved in it. What really does the atmosphere of the music are the people. The joy of life cariocas (Rio inhabitants) possess is something you can’t imagine unless you’ve been there. People are always ready to sing and dance and they do it with naturalness, not to impress or to show off. When you go to a baile funk party you can feel the people truly enjoying themselves. And the pure energy they transmit with their crazy, sexual dance moves. I often feel, that in western countries people dance sexually to look good (like some r’n’b star on MTV), but here people dance sexually because they feel good.

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