The Brazilian Influence in Electronic Music
Vivi Seixas (Cover of album Geração da Luz)
As a Brazilian, long have I yearned to be proud of my country’s heritage in Electronic Music. Just like Germans can be proud of Kraftwerk, Americans can be proud of the Detroit Scene and the Swedish of Adam Bayer, fact is I might yearn for the rest of my life or just become French and have a poster of Arnaud Rebotini in my living room.
I’m not complaining though! Brazil is much known for its music and I am very proud of it. Who would not know what Samba is? The horrible catchy sound of Michel Telo's Ai se eu te pego and it’s myriad of other language versions on youtube. The Bossa Nova from Vinicius de Morais, Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim? ♪Olha que coisa mais linda, mais cheia de graça...♪ of the Garota de Ipanema song. We seduced the likes of Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Sting and many more. Carmen Miranda was already shaking her fruit basket to the sound of early Samba on Hollywood films 80 years ago! Even NASA used to wake up its Mars rovers with a tune from Elis Regina (Alo alo Marciano), so we’ve not only gone planetary, but we are now an Interplanetary success!
Musicians like Hector Villa-Lobos and Baden Powell were able to fuse classical music with popular and truly make it popular. The Beatles dominated the world with only 3 chords but Villa-Lobos proved that no piece of music is too hard to swallow, if sweetened enough with some Brazilian mojo.
Original score handwritten by Heitor Villa-Lobos
On the very popular side we even labeled a genre MPB (Popular Brazilian Music, in portuguese) to mix the sophistication of Bossa Nova inspired by Jazz with the roots of Brazilian heritage, a mix of African and native indian culture born during the 400 years of colonization, and all its subgenres. Led by the likes of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Marisa Monte, Titãns, Secos e Molhado, Os Mutantes, Raul Seixas, Gonzaguinha and many many more. It’s like a pot-pourri-genre, a mix between all sorts of musical nationalizations and fusions. Raul Seixas brought us the Brazilian Psychedelic rock, as well as Rita Lee, the Brazilian Glam-rock with Ney Matogrosso, Chico Buarque wrote a Bossa Nova Operete called A ópera do Malando that talks about the Rio de Janeiro’s Bad Boys of the 50’s based on a Bertold Brecht’s opera.
A ópera do Malando (based on Bobby Darin's Mac the Knife)
Forró is also an influential Brazilian genre from the northest of the country. Forró was born during the second World War when American bases installed in the North of Brazil organized popular balls with Brazilian musicians to encourage a cultural exchange between the American Soldiers and the local Brazilians. At the entrance one could read "For All" and very quickly the locals were eager to go dance at the next Forrall, Forroll… Or so the folklore says. Forró is a fusion of pre-colombian drums, European accordions and Occitan verbal duels, or so they say.
Ok so far I have bored you with all thoses traditional references, and I haven’t even gone into explaining Axé Music from Bahia, the Frevo from Recife, the Soul of Tim Maia and the Hip-Hop from São Paulo.
But to show the influence Brazilian music might have, the above descriptions give the readers a fair insight on the complexity of its scene and a quite natural need to continuously reinvent itself by assimilating other genres to create new ones…. Just like, well…. electronic music!
A very authentic example is the Manguebeat movement, which can be translated as the Mangrove Beat. Created in the nineties by Chico Science and his Nação Zumbi, it is a contraction between traditional Maracatu from Pernambuco and rock, hip hop, funk and electronic music.
Chico Science & Nação Zumbi - Maracatu Atomico
The movement is a cultural revolution of those who had to leave the traditional life by the mangrove and dwell in the tough life of the city with all its greed and misery. To find themselves and not become completely crazy, they rescued their ancestral ways and mixed with the outside influence to claim the city and it’s symbols.
Back in the first decade of 2000 the whole DJ hype arrived in Brazil. With a growing economy now opening up to the outside world, Brazilians were eager to find the next best thing they could get a hold on and fuse with some local elements. It was by the hands of DJ Patife and Marky Marc (DJ MARKY), both Drum ’n’ Bass DJs from São Paulo, who, in their careers, colaborated with the likes of Roni Size and Goldie, that we hear for the first time a wave of Brazilian songs being remixed into an electronic music. Só tinha de ser com voce is a MPB song from the 60’s by Tom Jobim and Elis Regina (the interplanetary diva, ed.) boldly remixed into fast breakbeats. Instant success. MPB and Drum ‘n’ Bass mixed so well and a few other tunes followed, DJ Marky went on to have a very prolific and successful career.
Jorge Ben - Carolina Carol Bela (DJ Marky Remix)
I was born in Rio de Janeiro, apart from samba and chorinho, the other local rhythm I grew-up with is the (in)famous Funk Carioca. Coming from Rio’s Favelas, the Funk Carioca genre is based on Miami Bass and it evolved in parallel with Afrika Bombaataa’s Funk and the Eletro/Electro-Clash sound. It is a very crude form of music with repeated drums and synth samples that was born in the favelas and was associated with the drug dealers and the Bailes Funk, a bit like the “forall” but with sexually explicit lyrics, sexually explicit dances and sexually explicit drug dealers with AK-47’s. But the baile funk is in fact a social tool just like the Manguebeat movement, a tool of social cohesion, escape from reality and self-determination. It quickly spread through all social classes in Rio and subsequently all over Brazil.
In 2001 for the first time a non-Brazilian record label released an album entitled Favela Chic including 3 old-school Funk Carioca tracks including Popozuda Rock n’ Roll. Snoop Dog came over to praise the beauty of the place (yes the girls….). And finaly, in 2005 the British-Tamoul artist M.I.A. together with the super mega uber dj/producer Diplo, released the track Bucky Done Gun with its heavy Funk Carioca beats. Diplo and his Major Lazer crew' sounds are very influenced by Funk Carioca, Dancehall and reggae fusion. Their track Pon De Floor is a flagrant witness to it. Diplo also produced a documentary about Funk Carioca called Favela on Blast.
Watch the documentary Favela on Blast :
If one can say that Brazilians actually had any influence on artists, especially musicians it is not so much the sound of it but rather the concept of connecting tradition with innovation, to end up with a different and fresh result, full of meanings. Just like all the above artists, Brazilians have been doing this since the time of African slaves that had to hide their fighting art of capoeira (that is actually a native indian word) calling it a dance and ending up with the musica da roda. Brazil's main advantage is not it's beautiful women and beaches, nor it's football players or Rio de Janeiro, it is it's people's ability to adapt themselves and adapt others to them with such creativity. We'll keep our ears open for the next best thing.
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