Funk Globo: The Sound of Neo Baile

As the world’s eye focuses on Brazil and its impending sporting exploits, the Brighton-based label Mr Bongo release a new musical showcase from the vibrant and popular South American state.

Funk Globo provides an innovative take on the sounds and aesthetics of Brazil’s baile funk (or funk carioca) music. With ancestral roots in the electronic Miami Bass music of the 80s and 90s, baile funk has expanded out of Rio’s favelas and become a part of the musical identity of Brazil’s working class. (It has also been criticised for its sexually exploitative and violent lyrical tendencies.) London-based songwriter MIA brought this genre to international prominence with her 2005 sampling of Deize Tigrona’s ‘Injeção'.

This hit-and-miss compilation features a range of artists from the burgeoning international scene, from Mozambique’s Gato Preto to Russia’s Chuck Upbeat. Packed full of modern trap (‘Xão Trap’), dancehall (‘Chega Mais’) and house (‘Danca Gostosa’), these are indeed innovative takes on baile funk. While, as in all exploratory mixtapes, not every experiment delivers, this album provides a refreshing twist amidst a genre currently drowning in mediocrity. The injection of Miami Bass rhythms in ‘Balanco Da Canoa’ and ‘Cicadas’ Dance’ will move any dance floor.