NEWS
Keanu Koen
Funk carioca
Funk carioca was once a direct derivative of samba, Afrobeat, Miami bass, Latin music, African traditional religious music, Candomble, hip-hop and freestyle (another Miami-based genre) from the United States. The reason why these genres, very localized in the United States, have become popular and influential in Rio de Janeiro is due to their proximity. Miami has been a popular air stop for Rio DJs to buy the latest American records. Along with the influence of Miami came the long-standing influence of the slave trade in colonial Brazil. Various African religions like vodun and candomble were brought with the African slaves to the Americas. The same rhythm is found in the Afro-religious music of the African Diaspora and many black Brazilians identify themselves as part of this religion. This kind of music was started mainly by those of the black communities in Brazil, so a hot pot of influences from which the brand is derived.
Many similar musical genres can be found in Caribbean island nations such as: Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Haiti, Puerto Rico, among others. Bounce music, which comes from New Orleans, Louisiana, also has a similar rhythm. New Orleans, originally a French territory, was the center of the Atlantic slave trade before being sold to the United States. All these areas with similar musical genres retain the influence of American hip hop, African music and Latin music[5].
In the 1970s, nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro played funk and soul music[6].
Funk carioca was made popular in the 1980s in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the city's mostly Afro-Brazilian slums. From the mid-nineties onwards, it was a mainstream phenomenon in Brazil. Funk songs talk about such diverse topics as poverty, human dignity, black racial pride, sex, violence and social injustice. Social analysts believe that the funk carioca is an authentic expression of the serious social problems affecting the poor and black people of Rio.
According to DJ Marlboro, the main influence for the birth of funk carioca was the single "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force, released in 1982[7].
Carioca in its early days were mostly electronic bass drum loops from Miami or freestyle records and the 4-6 beat Afrobeat time, while some artists composed them with real drum machines. The most common drum beat was an "808 volt" loop by DJ Battery Brain, commonly called "Voltmix", although Hassan's "Pump Up the Party" is also remarkable[8][9][10] Today the funk rhythms are mostly based on tamborzão rhythms instead of the old drum machine loops.
The melodies are usually sampled. Older songs are usually based on freestyle samples for the melody, or had none at all. Modern funk uses a number of samples from various sources, particularly horn and accordion stabs, as well as the horn intro to the "Rocky" theme. The funk carioca has always used a small catalog of rhythms and samples that almost all songs take from (commonly with several in the same song). Funk carioca songs can be instrumental or include rapping, singing or something intermediate. Popularized by Brazilians and other Afro-Latinos, the saying "Bum-Cha-Cha, Bum Cha-Cha" Bum-Cha-Cha-Cha, Cha Cha Cha" or even "Boom-Pop-Pop, Pop,Pop" is a representation of the rhythm that arrives in most funk songs with the origin of this rhythm derived from the music of Central and West Africa.
The funk carioca is different from the funk originating in the United States. Since 1970, styles such as bailes da pesada, black soul, shaft and funk have started to emerge in Rio de Janeiro. As time went by, DJs started looking for other black music rhythms, but the original name did not remain. The term baile funk is used to refer to parties where funk carioca is played. The funk carioca emerged for the first time and is played throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro, but not only in the city of Rio, as the natives of Rio like to believe. The funk carioca is mostly attractive to young people. In the decade of 1980, anthropologist Herman Vianna was the first social scientist to take Funk as a subject of study in his thesis, which gave rise to the book O Mundo Funk carioca, which translates into The Carioca Funk World.