NeverNotWorking Radio Baile Funky

Ugh. I am sick. Sick and tired of gringos stealing all my people’s names to use as their own: Los Angeles, Amarillo, San Antonio, Taco Bell. But seriously though, I’m sick, and am unable to finish the epic blog post I had intended to get up tonight. I’m too weary. Vomiting blood. That sort of thing.

So, instead of finishing my fantastic tale of infiltrating a scientologist compound in Wyoming told in second-person choose-your-own-adventure style, I’m going to kick off an idea I’ve had for awhile but have never put into effect, which is to keep GRATING SPACE fresh by hyping cool things that my friends are doing.

The first instillation of what will probably be a regular component of this here blog deals with my friend Kris in New York and his radio show, NeverNotWorking. An aficionado of myriad musical genres, he and his cohost play rare and mindblowing cuts that span soul, jazz, hip hop, and, on my favorite show of his so far, favela funk straight from the City of God. Favela funk, or baile funk, or funk carioca, is the contemporary native sound coming from the drug-gang-run slums of Rio de Janeiro. It’s a derivative of Miami bass, beat-wise, and its lyrics, while in Portuguese, are often just as explicitly sexual. But like any genre worth its weight in decibels, favela funk emcees and DJs vary dramatically in tone and approach, and some of the best artists currently working in it are those who temper its violent nature with strains of Gil Scott Heron-esque soulfulness. I’ve found lots of people who find favela funk grating, overly aggressive and generally inaccessible on first listen, but the growing handful of us to whom it speaks swears by it.

This episode of NeverNotWorking radio features tracks pulled from dusty shelves in Sao Paulo and Rio record shops, as well as a live in-studio with Brazil’s own MC Zuzuka Poderosa and DJ Supervixen.

Toma, toma t-toma, toma!