Brazilian funk breaks barriers and becomes a worldwide phenomenon, says Economist

With frantic beats and vibrant culture, Brazilian funk prepares to follow the footsteps of reggaeton and conquer global markets

Brazil is at the center of global attention after winning its first Oscar with the movie “I’m still here”set in Rio de Janeiro during the dark years of the dictatorship in the 1970s. The long soundtrack of the feature reinforces a romantic view of the country, where allegedly samba bands and bossa nova chant jazzistic songs on seaside boardwalks. However, this perception no longer reflects contemporary reality. Today, Brazilians are more inclined to the country, an animated country music style, and funk, a rhythm born in Rio’s favelas. Especially funk has the potential to internationalize and thus transform the image of Brazil abroad.

The countryman occupies the top of radio charts and streaming platforms in Brazil for about ten years. Its popularity reflects changes in the national economy, which migrated from a manufacturing base to a model centered on agriculture. “Most of Brazil’s music producers used to be focused on Rio,” explains Leo Morel of Midia Research, a company specializing in market research.

However, with the strengthening of agribusiness, “rural states began to gain more space.” The country letters extol themes such as cattle, beer and imported pickups. In 2003, the genre represented 15 of the 100 most played songs on Brazilian radio; In 2022, this number jumped to 76.

Although dominant, the countryman has little chance of expanding beyond national borders. Few artists invest in strategies to reach the global audience, says Morel. This makes room for funk (pronounced by Brazilians as “Funky”) to assume the role of cultural ambassador of Brazil. “We make music thinking of achieving as many people as possible,” says Kevin O Chris, one of funk’s top names.

Brazilian funk emerged in the late 1980s, inspired by Miami Bass and Electro-Funk, subgenres of American hip-hop characterized by striking electronic beats. Brazilians gave their own style identity by accelerating the rhythms. While hip hop and reggaeton, the latter popularized in Puerto Rico, have about 90 beats per minute, funk reaches 130 or more.

The genre also developed a vibrant subculture, with weekly favela balls, highlighting iconic steps such as Passinho, an acrobatic movement executed mainly by men, and the rebolada, a Brazilian version of twerking.

Funk’s letters and themes often reflect the harsh reality of the communities where it was born. At a recent ball held in a slum in the Gloria neighborhood, in Rio, teenagers circulated with hanging rifles on the shoulders and ammunition belts at the waist. A man in his 20s proudly displayed a semi -automatic rifle studded with gold. Behind the stage, armed men watched a table full of cocaine bags for sale.

Even so, funk’s engaging beats are helping the genre win the mainstream. Taísa Machado, a dance teacher and curator of an exhibition about funk in Rio, reports that her students, once frequent attendees of funk balls, are now professionals as dentists and therapists who live in noble neighborhoods. Most are white. This growing acceptance annoyed conservative legislators. In January, a councilwoman from São Paulo proposed a bill that prohibits the local government from hiring artists who promote the crime for public shows. The National Congress is debating the measure, seen as a direct attack on funk.

According to The Economist magazine, Brazil’s new musical ambassadors appear to be distant from traditional figures like Gilberto Gil. Today, the most celebrated name is Anitta, a versatile artist who comes from a poor suburb of Rio and is known for both her wiggling skills and her numerous plastic surgery (she has already played about being a Frankenstein).

Anitta worked tirelessly to enter the international market, learning Spanish and English, buying a home in Miami and signing a contract with Republic Records, a prestigious label of the Dutch giant American Universal Music Group. In 2022, she became the first Brazilian to lead Spotify’s global stops with music “Involve”a hit of reggaeton in Spanish. His latest album is trilingual and resumes his roots in funk.

The fact that Anitta had to learn two languages ​​and mix genres to consolidate internationally demonstrates the challenges faced by Brazilian musicians abroad. “It is much easier to export Brazilian soccer players than musicians and culture,” says Michele Miranda, a journalist specializing in music. The Spanish Latin American Diaspora in the United States helped boost genres such as reggaeton. Already the Brazilian community abroad is smaller and less connected.

However, funk producers are confident that the genre is about to take off globally. Last year, American stars like Beyoncé and Kanye West used funk samples on their albums. Petract, a Brazilian producer who travels regularly to the United States, says local musicians barely knew funk until recently.

However, last year he received calls from Timbaland, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West himself, all asking for samples. “Before I added funk to small doses, like a seasoning, but now people want the entire dish,” he says.

Artists like Beyoncé and Kanye West may be responding to both business opportunities and the search for new sounds. Latin America and sub -Saharan Africa are the fastest growing music markets in the world. Although Latin America represents only 8% of the global population, it accounts for almost a quarter of Spotify’s monthly active users, according to Roberta Pate of Spotify Brazil.

She points out that one of the secrets of the success of other international genres, such as Reggaeton, was the “consistency with artists dedicating resources to gain global audiences.” If Anitta is indicative, the global growth of funk may be closer to what you think.