Ostentation Funk – The Movie (English subtitles) from Funk Ostentação on Vimeo.
So, with just a week ahead to start the biggest tournament of the world, when it comes to soccer, all of our eyes are staring at Brazil. The country with the biggest income per capita in Latin America. But also, a country with huge problems due to social differences.
If there’s one thing us, latin americans, share is that when there is a reason to worry, we turn it into a reason to celebrate. Brazilians celebrate through their rhythm, and well, Funk seems like the best way to do it. But there is a different meaning of Funk in this country. Here it is not about a groovy bass and some James Brown soul. It is about samba, mixed with Miami bass and rap music. When the rest of Latin America started dancing reggaeton, Brazilians developed this gender that may seem pretty similar to the reggaeton’s aesthetic, but that has such a different meaning and musical richness to consider.
Funk was born in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro -better known as favelas-, and when it started, their lyrics were all about sex, drugs and protest. But when it came to Sao Paulo, a city where fashion and style rule above other important topics of society, it went more commercial. It started talking about cars, jewelry, liqueur and it certainly started to mention a lot of brands. It turned out to be the perfect way to promote consumption and social mobility. Funk is now a big business and artists like M.I.A. or Diplo are using its tone into their music.
Of course soccer is an important new topic to sing about in the Funk world. My eyes are also in Brazil and it may be time to dance to MC Guime’s rhythm.