What is Baile Funk?



Baile in Portuguese literally means "ball", as in "dance party", and "funk" is how locals label the musical genre (see below for origin of this label); therefore, "baile funk" means a "funk ball" or "funk party", and is used in Brazil exclusively to describe the parties where such music is played, and not the music itself.



The mainstream Brazilian media often calls the music "Funk Carioca", meaning funk from Rio de Janeiro; alternately, it is simply referred to as "Funk", especially in Rio proper.
In English, however, the term has increasingly been used to describe the musical genre itself. This may be due to English speakers seeing the word "baile" as an adjective to "funk", as English word order would suggest. In Portuguese, though, "funk" is the qualifier for "baile", in this case.
Since the genre was developed mostly by the favela population, and it is in favelas that the vast majority of "bailes funk" (the correct plural in Portuguese) are held, it is also sometimes known in English as "Favela Funk".



Brazilian Funk

Despite the term is now used abroad to refer to the style emerged from Rio's favelas, Brazilian Funk is also used inside Brazil when talking about Brazilian black music produced back in the 70's. Samba-rock and soul artists as Tim Maia, Erlon Chaves, Gerson King Combo, Carlos Dafe and Trio Maria Fumaca were deeply influenced by the actual Funk music of George Clinton, James Brown, Isaac Hayes and others, a fact that helped to perpetuate inside the favelas the "Funk" definition for all of the American Black music (see bellow).





Origins of Carioca "Funk"

Brazilian record suppliers who went to the United States in the 1970's to buy what was called at the time "Black Music" for Brazilian DJs targeted stores that sold American Funk records. As they continued to support the same hotspots over time, though American music had evolved away from Funk into new genres such as Hip Hop, the word "funk" stuck in local usage. Miami was a popular place to obtain records for Brazil, and therefore, Miami Bass was prominent in these imports. DJ Nazz is one of the main suppliers credited with bringing Miami Bass records to Brazil while still referring to them as American "Funk" records. Local producers began mimicking this in the late 1980s. The influence of Miami is also reflected in the prominence of freestyle-style synth melodies.



Funk Balls

"Bailes Funk" or 'Funk Balls' generally take place in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and other cities. These Funk Balls play a very important role in terms of integrating the culture of the favelas with the culture of the city at large. It is estimated that 200,000 youths of all social classes and backgrounds attend them every weekend. Funk balls have been notorious for their blatant sexuality and violence. The funqueiros ("funkers", or patrons of the clubs) sometimes become violent, and deaths are not uncommon. Certain clubs have been described as having blood-smeared walls and having trampled persons lying on the floor. Some DJs have been known to incite the crowd to fight with their selection of music. During the late 1990s, a phenomenon called the "corridor", where two rival gangs would line up on opposite sides and fight in the corridor of space between them. Funkers will drag a rival to the other side, or some will willingly cross over to the other side, and they will fight bareknuckles. The recent decline of violence at funk balls has allowed them to become better accepted. Recently, Funk Balls have been attracting attention from visitors from abroad. Compilers from abroad also tend use the term Baile Funk to represent the genre, which differs from the original Brazilian use.


Funk Balls

"Bailes Funk" or 'Funk Balls' generally take place in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and other cities. These Funk Balls play a very important role in terms of integrating the culture of the favelas with the culture of the city at large. It is estimated that 200,000 youths of all social classes and backgrounds attend them every weekend. Funk balls have been notorious for their blatant sexuality and violence. The funqueiros ("funkers", or patrons of the clubs) sometimes become violent, and deaths are not uncommon. Certain clubs have been described as having blood-smeared walls and having trampled persons lying on the floor. Some DJs have been known to incite the crowd to fight with their selection of music. During the late 1990s, a phenomenon called the "corridor", where two rival gangs would line up on opposite sides and fight in the corridor of space between them. Funkers will drag a rival to the other side, or some will willingly cross over to the other side, and they will fight bareknuckles. The recent decline of violence at funk balls has allowed them to become better accepted. Recently, Funk Balls have been attracting attention from visitors from abroad. Compilers from abroad also tend use the term Baile Funk to represent the genre, which differs from the original Brazilian use.