rio's funky booty beats

This ain't no Nissan commercial, this is the real sound of Brazilian soul in the 21st Century -- the kind of grooves that are going down on soundsystems up in the favelas in Rio, not the hipster bars down at the beaches! There's an unabashed love of American R&B on these tracks -- not classic soul from the 70s, or hipster soul from the underground -- but mainstream grooves from points south, inspired by Miami bass, crunk, crossover house, mainstream hip hop, and even a bit of dancehall. The set's a great overview of the music that currently goes under the name of "funk" in Brazilian culture -- a sound that's very different than the use of the term by American musicians -- and although we've described many of the roots of the music in American terms, there's also some distinctly Brazilian influences that resonate strongly -- and which make for the kind of evolutionary sound that happened when Jamaicans first started trying to recreate American R&B, then took things in a whole new direction.

Essay Recordings has a 12" EP featuring four cuts from the full length CD. "Tire A Camisa" by Dennis DJ & MC Cabo has a tribal meets Skyywalker thang, "O Baile Todo" by Bonde Do Tiagro is the Portugeuse "Who Let the Dogs Out?" except with kickass tiger growls instead. "Popozuda Rock N Roll" by De Falla may have started out as a joke but ended up as Russell Simmons meets Rick Rubin (again, except in Rio) or in terms everyone can understand: Fight for Your Right to Party and "Tapinha" by MC's Naldinho & Beth has the sound of a battle between 50 Cent vs the innocence of a 70s Jacko.

De Falla - Popozuda Rock'n'Roll
MCs Naldinho & Beth - Tapinha
Dennis DJ + MC Cabo - Tire A Camisa
Bonde Do Tiagro - O Baile Todo