When I was in Rio last month, Sany Pitbull was extremely excited about a hush-hush high level collaboration with Red Bull and the Rede Globo (Brazil’s media empire). Well, it’s happening — “Funk-Se” or funk yourself, is ongoing this week in the Cidade Maravilhosa (check the site even if you don’t know Portuguese — chock full of streaming music, videos, photos, etc.). Sany describes it as a watershed moment for funk, especially on the heels of the law in Rio’s state legislature declaring funk a legitimate form of cultural expression.
As he wrote in his announcement e-mail:
Um sonho que eu tive junto com a minha grandiosa e saudosa amiga Adriana Pittigliani está se tornando realidade, o sonho de ver o movimento funk ser realmente respeitado como merece…. Não está sendo fácil transformar esse sonho em realidade( e ninguém falou que ía ser facil,mesmo), mas com a ajuda de uns aliados estamos conseguindo chegar lá.
O motivo desse email é um só, te mostrar parte do que estamos fazendo, é só o inicio, temos muito mais à fazer… Muito trabalho ainda vem por ai.. Chega desse papo de musica de favela, musica de pobre… o Funk é muito mais do que isso… Muito maior do que parece ser…
Basta apenas se organizar pra ser tornar o maior ritmo musical desse país..e seremos sim, quem não acredita vai ver…Está para acontecer um evento histórico, embrionário ainda, pequeno talvez em relação à magnitude do ritmo, mas ja é um inicio e olha que não estamos começando fracos não, só aliados de responsa compraram a briga ( do bem e pelo bem ).
40 anos de funk
40 anos de historia
40 anos mexendo com a cabeça,alma e quadris de tanta gente mundo à fora
40 anos se transformando e se preparando pra ser a musica dos próximos 40 anos(no mínimo).Redbull Funk-se , do vinil à Mpc …
____
A dream that I had together with my dearly departed friend Adriana Pittigliani is becoming a reality, the dream of seeing the funk scene get the respect it deserves… it hasn’t been easy to turn this dream into a reality (and nobody ever said it would be), but with the help of many allies we are finally succeeding.
The motive of this e-mail is simple, to show you what we have been up to, it’s only the beginning, we have much more to do… Much more work to come.. The arrival of this conversation about favela music, about the music of the poor… Funk is much more than this… Much bigger than it seems to be…
A historic event is about to take place, still in its infancy, perhaps tiny in comparison to the magnitude of the funk beat, but it’s already a beginning and look at how we don’t start off weak, only our most trusted allies will join us in the fight (of and for what’s good).
40 anos of funk
40 anos of history
40 anos of moving the head, soul, and booty of so many people
40 anos of transforming itself and preparing itself to be the music of the next 40 years (at the minimum).Redbull Funk-se, from vinyl to MPC …
Sany Pitbull: funk prophet? Could be. The schedule is packed, with a daily panel discussion, film showing, Sany Pitbull MPC workshop for kids at a technology magnet school (!), and nightly party. Notably it indeed stretches back 40 years, bringing in the likes of Gerson King Combo, one of the originators of Brazilian soul and overall “black music” as they call it. The press coverage is unsurprisingly favorable, and speaks to the media’s willingness to give positive coverage toward mainstream, legal, organized funk, with corporate backing no less. (Poking around the “related articles” reveals one from last year about a baile crackdown sparked by a grenade explosion that injured 12 at an August 2008 favela baile).
One of the events I am most disappointed to be missing is the MPC battle! Cabide DJ x Phabyo DJ x DJ Pokemon x DJ Mancha. I’m a little intrigued at some of the rules though –
Serão passíveis de eliminação os seguintes casos:
Agressão física contra um dos participantes; ofender o apresentador ou o Dj.
O DJ que falar de facção criminosa (apologia).
Não fazer referência a time de futebol
Não executar músicas com temas e vozes infantis.__
The following will lead to automatic disqualificaton:
Physical aggression against one of the participants; offending the host or another DJ.
DJ mentioning a criminal faction (apology for crime).
Do not refer to any soccer team.
Do not play music about children or with children’s voices.
There is clearly an effort to manage the kind of funk on display at such a high-profile event: no proibidao, nothing that could involve minors (there goes all the tunes about “gatinhas”), and I guess no riling up the crowd with a cheap paean to Flamengo.
My money’s on Cabide, natch, as he’s No. 1 sampler do Brasil e do mundo now. Besides, that’s his MPC they’re fighting over in that pic. Either way, there’s a 50-50 shot a Flamin Hotz artist will be the “king of the MPC.”
Meanwhile, the Cine Funk Clube will be screening Favela on Blast tomorrow night to round off a week that’s included “Sou Feia Mas To Na Moda” (I’m Ugly But Trendy), one of the earliest post-2000 funk docs and some other more obscure (or I guess more Brazilian) ones that I’ve never heard of.
I’ve got saudade, sure. As Sany said, “You’re leaving June 11? No no, make it July 11! Stay for Funk-Se!” But duty calls back here in the Estados Unidos. Still, some likeminded folks & I have put together a mini Funk-Se at the Chicken Loft. We’ll have old Brazilian wax, an MPC, Cabide’s DVD internacional, Favela on Blast, caipirinha, cerveja, boldinho, and comida galore. Tonight, Cambridge is the next best place to Rio. (more…)
