Brazil’s baile funk scene has been morphing at a pace that is hard to keep up with. The eclectic, bass-heavy style, which was born in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s, has gone through many permutations. In its current incarnation, baile funk has an overwhelming amount of regional and sonic variants, many of which push the sound of the genre into completely alien territory. It’s some of the most thrilling music on the planet, and we wanted to learn more about it, so we had Eric Alves—also known as Agazero, ICQ Baby, and DJ LHC—put together a hub featuring some of the most exciting artists in the country. Here is what he had to say:
“Curating and interviewing all these artists for Nina’s Brazil Hub has been something I’ve really wanted to do for a long time. As I’ve followed and studied the underground baile funk scene in Brazil, I have come to realize that practically all of these young artists are extremely sequestered to small bubbles and groups on the internet. They don't have the visibility of the great baile funk DJs in my country, but they are the ones who have been experimenting, innovating, and shaping the genre into something we’ve never seen before. These artists are making something out of the ordinary, mixing baile funk with a drumless atmosphere, trance gates, and using new synths—it's all very magical. This hub represents a new generation of funk, completely remodeled. With millions of subgenres and different types of beats, we have so many creative artists contributing to the evolution of the sound. We are witnessing an original musical genre from my country turn into something massive and consistent. I am extremely happy to present this group of artists!”
Listen to the songs and check out interviews with artists below.
DJ ALYX (Londrina, Brazil)
"‘Tudo na minha bct trance’ started when I was making ‘Automotivos de Éter,’ which was a more 'ethereal’ take on Brazilian funk, with heavy inspiration from euphoric trance and hardstyle, as well as automotivo slide (a funk subgenre that uses lead synth samples as the main melody of the track). I was just making these tracks and messing with the BPM, not just the regular 130 we use for funk, and, I don’t know, it made sense to make an ethereal trance type thing and release it as a one-off."