Favela Chic: Diplo, Funk Carioca, and the Ethics and Aesthetics of the Global Remix

Abstract

Using the work of the US DJ and producer Diplo as a case study, this article examines the development, internationalization, and sensationalization of Brazilian funk carioca. It argues that this trend has contributed to glamorized global perceptions of impoverished Latin American communities and perpetuated a troublesome history of Western producers using source material from the Other for novelty and financial gain. It concludes with a discussion of the emerging ideals and aesthetics of the “global remix,” as well as an examination of contemporary attitudes towards hybridity, authenticity, and ownership in the global popular music sphere.

Notes

1. The term “carioca” refers to a resident of Rio; “funk carioca” roughly translates as “Rio funk.”

2. Due to the stigma “favela” has in Brazilian popular culture, residents themselves often prefer the more neutral terms bairro (neighborhood), comunidade (community), or morro (hill), the latter of which draws its name from the common placement of favelas on steep urban slopes unsuitable for larger-scale residential development. See Williams (484).

3. Composers such as Ary Barroso, for instance, considered the favela a prime source of authentic samba. See Vianna (96).

4. Common sites of international poverty tourism include the neighborhoods of Dhawari in Mumbai and Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, the township of Gugulethu in Cape Town, and the city garbage dump in Mazatlán, Mexico. See Dürr; Freire-Medeiros; Meschkank; Rolfes.

5. Brazilian Negrismo related to several global movements that sought to construct hybrid national identities and foreground the cultural contributions of non-whites. Throughout Latin America, mestizaje/mestiçagem ideologies valorized cultural hybridity and racial mixture. In Cuba, 1920s and 1930s-era Afrocubanismo celebrated Afro-Cuban artistic traditions and portrayed Afro-Cuban culture as an integral part of the Cuban nation. In France, West Africa, and the French Caribbean, figures affiliated with Négritude, such as Aimé Césaire and Leopold Sedar Senghor, sought to valorize the cultural contributions and subjectivity of Francophone Afro-descendants. These empowered black artists to varying degrees: Negrismo and Afrocubanismo were largely (though not entirely) shaped by white leaders who often appropriated black cultural contributions, while Négritude was more centrally shaped by black artists and writers. See Alberto; Arnedo-Gómez; Harvey; Moore.

6. For a discussion of the transformation of attitudes towards samba over the 20th century, and the replacement of samba with funk carioca as the prototypical musical symbol of the contemporary favela, see Araújo and Cambria.

7. For commentary on general stylistic elements of funk carioca, see Essinger; Castro; Sneed, “Favela Utopias.”

8. Sneed (“Favela Utopias,” 60–61). In citing the “Brazilian anthropophagic spirit,” Sneed refers to the notion of anthropophagy, or “cultural cannibalism,” an artistic philosophy advanced by the Brazilian modernist poet Oswald de Andrade. See Dunn (15–20).

9. For a discussion of subgenres such as proibidão and funk putaria, see Penglase; Araújo and Cambria; Sneed, “Bandidos de Cristo.”

10. “Eu só quero é ser feliz/Andar tranquilamente na favela onde eu nasci/E poder me orgulhar e ter a consciência/Que o pobre tem seu lugar.” Translated by the author.

11. Notably, the version of “Bucky Done Gun” on Arular, though similar in its core elements, possesses significantly more polished and remastered tones and a bass line that was not present in the original Piracy Funds Terrorism mix.

12. Specifically, “Baile Funk One” features Sandy & As Travessas’ song “Aviãozinho” (Little Airplane), “Baile Funk Two” features Os Magrinhos’ song “Lanchinho da Madrugada” (Little Late Night Snack), and “Baile Funk Three” features As Divinas’ song “Carrinho de Mão” (Wheelbarrow).

14. See <http://www.amazon.com/Favela-Chic-Restaurant-Various-Artists/dp/B00005KAIQ>, for instance.

15. Cited in Cochrane (par. 3).