RioFunk

Hello Everyone!

This is my post for last week's class! We talked about different genres such as blues, soul, r&b, skat,  Disco, Funk, montown,  Gospel and   Jazz and how rap combines all of these genres.

In today's blog I will talk about a different genre in Brazilian Music that has a lot of similarities to and that originated from Rap: Funk Carioca (Funk from Rio). 

Funk(or Funky how it's pronounced in Portuguese): dont get it confused with the funk genre that originated in the US. Brazilian Funk originated in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 70s when DJs were seeking new rhythms of black music to implement to their black, soul, shaft and funk parties.  Funk Carioca (or funk from Rio) has a direct influence of Mimi Bass and Freestyle (associated also with rap). The term funk is used to refer to parties or nightclubs that play funk or to the musical genre. 

In the beggining, jsut like in Rap music, Funk songs discussed topics such as poverty, human dignity, racial pride of black people, violence and social injustice. Some believe that Funk is a genuine expression od the severe social issues falling on the poor and black people in Rio 

Eu So Quero E Ser Feliz (I Just Want to Be Happy) Cidinho & Doca 

This song talks about how people in Favelas just want to be happy and be able to calmly walk around the favelas without being subjected to violence. 

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Together with the nationalization of funk came the Baile Funk, which is a party where DJs come to play and perform on the streets of favelas and rival teams battle for who has the most powerful equipment, the most faithful group and the best DJ and singer.  

The more nationalized it got, the more artists recorded new songs and  the more mainstream Funk became. 

It also became more vulgar and the rappers showed in the lyrics their favor for drug traffic, weapons- these songs are called PROIBIDAO, which refers to songs that are prohibited airplay by order of the Brazilian courts due to alleged crime apology.

The song RAP DAS ARMAS or Weapons Rap is an example of a Proibidao- it  had great success in the 90s and it is still very popular nowadays, specially after it was a soundtrack of a popular Brazilian Film The Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite). 

The song became even more popular after a remixed Dutch version of the song became popular in Europe and even reached #1 in some countries. (From Margins to Mainstream just like RAP)

Rap das Armas (Weapons Rap) Cidinho & Doca 

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     With the increase in success, Funk started more and more vulgarity in its lyrics and the Baile funk is now a place where girls come wearing the shortest shorts/skirts possible or even thongs bathing suits and battle for who has the biggest ass or who dances  till the floor better. The lyrics are filled with vulgarity. Not only  men are the singers now speaking about women's bodies but also women now Funk/Rap about men's body parts and their own. 

Videos Below: Baile Funk in RIO

 

MC Creu - Competition who shakes their asses fastest. 

Tati Quebra Barraco e Bola de Fogo - To ficando Atoladinha (Women Funk)

Brazilian Girls Dancing Funk on Copacabana Beach 

Tati Quebra Barraco -Boladona  (Women Funk)

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Regardless of the Funk songs content, this genre is now in mainstream media and people from all social classes enjoy its beats and the fun and humor in its lyrics (although a lot of people also hate it). But even the haters can't stand still when funk is playing at a party!!!!

And to finalize, here's a picture of me and my sister when we were in RIO at a BAILE FUNK  Castelo Das Pedras (Castle of the Rocks) in a Favela  - "The Best Baile in Town". We had a great time seeing people dancing crazy and we laughed all night

Makes Me Smi)e

In this weeks class we talked about the different characteristics of rap music  - such as Rhyme, Flow,  Metaphors, Subliminal messages, Slang, Bragging, exaggeration,  Story-telling, Rhyming battle, Collage,  Recycling , Indirection, etc -  in which we focused on two  Humor   and  Vulgarity

    "Humor relieves tension - when in a bad situation,  the only thing that remains is to laugh: it liberates yourself from powers that oppress you because you laugh about it.

     

       This phrase made me think about a video I watched once of two of my favorite graffiti artists: Os Gemeos - I mentioned them on my last post. Os Gemeos are these Brazilian twin brother who are famous worldwide. They make graffiti paintings in the most unexpected places around the world, such as castles and financial districts. They bring color and humor to people's ordinary's lives, not by music, but by their drawing. People forget about their daily routines  and their problems when they see a colorful piece made by them in an unexpected location. Their characters are humoristic and put a smile in people's faces :)

          Graffiti in Boston's Financial District

The Graffiti Project on Kelburn Castle 

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   Humor in Music - Gabriel O Pensador (Gabriel, the thinker) is a Brazilian rapper, compositor and writer. In his musical style rap prevails with influences from pop, hip hop, rock, funk, samba and even reggae. He often uses satire, irony, humor, metaphors and even paradoxes  in his songs. Some of his themes are social inequality, corruption, freedom, religion, poverty, violence and racism. His work criticizes behavioral concepts that have become accepted standards of adult behavior. Its main "targets" are stereotypes of "playboys", which are kids from the upper middle class who depend on money from their parents to live and who make no attempt to achieve something on their own; he also talks about "dumb blondes", who are very  attractive and  are successful in life because of their appearance. 

         Gabriel O Pensador-    LoraBurra (Dumb Blonde) 

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      Purpose of vulgarity – Rappers use vulgarity many times in a humanistic way. It is a way of opposing society. Same concept as in humor:  a carnavalistic context!

         

       In  Brazil we have one of the most popular Carnavals in the world. People work all year long to have 4 days of fun and forget about their problems. They dress up in costumes and  a lot of times, they don't even dress up at all and go out naked to the streets and to the Parades. But somehow, this is not considered vulgar. It is a way to liberate yourself and move out of the ordinary everyday life. Just like in rap, they use "vulgarity" in a humanistic way. In a way to have fun. 

Carnaval Sao Paulo, Brazil - 2012

Nicki Minaj in a Carnavalistic Context

      This Nicki Minaj song includes elements from Carnaval - uses vulgarity but in a humoristic way. 

A Shift from War to Art

     

In  this week's class we talked about the Cross Bronx Expressway construction wcich helped Manhattan become  the financial hub that it is today. A lot of the Bronx was destroyed because of the construction and Jewish people from middle and working classes that used to live there moved out to better neighborhoods. The Bronx became a metaphor for war zone, destruction and decay. 

      

       New residents of the bronx were now from the lowest social classes. The sense of neglect,  lack of authority and resources created fights, violence and gangs.  But this was soon to change.  In the 70's Hip-Hop gave the opportunity for this people to battle for who's the best dancer, raper and artist and no longer which gang is the most violent. There was a shift into art-war! 

      

      It is said that destruction, changing conditions, feeling of being neglected all bring the creativity out of people and ways of expressing themselves in art. This is what happened in the Bronx in the 70's. But not only in the Bronx......

               

       Brazil is one of the world's major hip hop scenes, with active rap, break dance and graffiti scenes especially in Sao Paulo, where groups tend to have a more international style

Os Gemeos: "The Twins" - two of the most famous Brazilian graffiti artist in the world 

Capoeira - which is huge in Brazil - contains similarities in their footwork, groundwork and upside-down movememnt, leading some to theorize that capoeira gave birth to breakdancing 

Breakdance  - very popular specially in Sao Paulo

In the future I will post more about each of these hip-hop elements. 

But right now I would like to talk about how violence can shift towards art...

The clash of different social classes in Brazil is very visible to anyone's eyes. The slums, known as the Favelas, are home for 6% of the Brazilian population(about 11,4 million of people)

Brazilian Rappers like Racionais MC's (one of the major., popular Rap groups in Brazil)  focus on criticizing the city's unequal wealth distribution, the lack of opportunity for people living in Slams and Sao Pualo state's corrupt government. The Favelas are mentioned in songs and so are local and national issues. 

This song, called "Chapter 4, Verse 3" starts by giving the following facts regarding reality in  Brazil:

- 60% of young people living in periphery without criminal records have suffered police violence;

- For every four people killed by the police, three are black;

- In Brazilian universities, only 2% of students are black;

- Every four hours a young black man dies violently in Sao Paulo;

- "Here is Cousin Black, another survivor."

Racionais memebers all come from the favela. They all share a common feeling of neglect, of destruction, of being left out and forgotten.  Many of the people residing in favelas very often  become part of the Drug Traffic.  Many die, many spend their lives in jail, many kill in order to survive. They form gangs who are constantly in war against the police and generate a tremendous violence. 

Racionais are different though. They chose art and hip hop  as a way to express themselves They are unanimously regarded as the voice of the suburbs. Their lyrics talk about discrimination against black people, the mistreatment by the police, the lack of education for kids, drug addiction and how people involved with the drug traffic either end up dead or in jail.

Instead of forming gangs and acting violently, they chose to use their music to reach young people with low income and protest using their voices against the oppression of the marginalized population in Favelas. Regardless of using their music to protest against the oppression and not using violence, still all the members of Racionais have been arrested by the police while performing in their shows, over charges of inciting violence - police violence is a frequent theme in the group's lyrics. But did this not keep them from writing more lyrics and having their voices heard - this just increased the group's popularity and success. 

The group sold over their career about 1 million albums, all the band members are still alive, are free and are making money, while many of the people they grew up with are involved with the drug traffic, arrested or dead......

Here I finish for today, sending a positive message out: Art is many times the answer!

Cheers,

T 

Hip Hop: From the Margins to Mainstream

Hi, I’m Tamara! Welcome to my Hip Hop Culture Blog. Even though I am very eclectic and love listening and dancing to every style of music, including Hip-Hop, I do not know much about it. Here I will have a weekly blog where I’ll post what I learned in class and share my feelings and thoughts about it.

In today’s class we talked about how Hip Hop started in the margins and how it came to be part of the mainstream culture. What started as a form of entertainment in the streets of the Bronx, now is seen by the eyes of people from all over the world. Hip Hop has changed as much and as fast as culture has. Rappers, who would rhyme about rapping, now rap about how glorious and successful their lives are. When in the past they would rap about their marginalized lives, now rap about an “Empire State of Mind”.

By the way, the song “Empire State of Mind” was originally written by people from Brooklyn, who were feeling homesick while on an overseas trip. Isn’t it ironic? Voices from the margins who would rap about their inner-city marginalized lives are now mainstream artists rapping about how glorious their lives are, while having a good time abroad.

We saw two music videos examples in class in which we can clearly see the difference in the lyrics of both music. The rappers of Grandmaster Flash with The Message (Beat Streets) from 1982, representing rap in the margins, complained about the environment they were living in: “Broken glass everywhere, People pissing on the stairs, I can’t take the smell, I can’t take the noise. Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice. Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat. I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far. Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed my car”

Nowadays,  the mainstream rappers rap about the so missed environment they come from and about how proud they are of  having succeeded in their life: “since I made it here I can make it anywhere, yeah, they love me everywhere” and talk about a “concerete jungle where dreams are made”, expensive cars and a New York City that will make you feel “brand new” in which “big lights will inspire you”.

From the Margins to the Mainstream big time!!

Toasting for subalterns and  Rapping for dominance I finish today’s post.