Baile, legal! Bonde Do Role xxxclusives pt 1

Words can’t articulate the excitement I felt when I heard funk carioca for the first time. It was 2003, I was travelling the world with my faithful companion, Mr Purdy, and we were in an end of the world samba joint in Salvador during carnaval time. Hit hard by the cheesetastic axe music of northern Brazil, which I can only describe as amphetemaine-fuelled funfair samba, we thought we must have come to the wrong place . The entire crowd joined in unison with dance routines we didn’t know, and would be ergonomically incapable of performing even if we had taken a few lessons. It felt like we were in the middle of the biggest and most enthusiastic party in the world, but we were nothing better than gatecrashers. Of course, we didn’t go home. That would have been unthinkable. We kept at the ice-cold Antartica’s (Brahma tastes like monkey piss!)and, as the clock struck 4, and most of the sweaty crowd had subsided, the mood suddenly took a sinister shift. This grinding, cheaply sampled cacophany of 80s electro groaned from the PA. And then an impassioned, yet caterwauling rap was thrown into the mix. Before long, it had morphed into Costa Del Sol Europop as well! It felt wrong, but somehow so right. I was in love with Brazil, and with carioca funk.

Skip forwards a few years, and funk has been spewed from the gutters of the ‘favelas’, and into the faces of the middle classes. A more sophisticated sheen has been brought to the production and, although those original strains of MC Serginho’s “Eguinha pocoto” will never be topped, it’s great to see a more palatable brand of funk becoming accepted by the European mainstream. Diplo has been a great ambassador for the marginalised street sound, but it is to his talented protégés that he seeks inspiration for his own productions. Bonde Do Role, spearheaded by their producer, DJ Gorky AKA “the nicest man in music”, are the first signings to Diplo’s Mad Decent label and, although somewhat of an outcast in their homeland where they’re too rock for the street kids, and too ghetto for the playboys, they’re set to lead the funk wave into the brave new world.

Bonde Do Role- Solta O Frango


The amazing “Melo Do Tobaco” has been doing the rounds as a prime source of remix material for a while, but I think the Radioclit remix is more worthy than most, if only for the sheer variety of influences that have been thrown into the juicer. Making waves on the Eurocrunk scene with their kick-ass gutter remixes, energetic DJ sets (they were recent iPod battle winners at Paris Paris!), and their Stacs of Stamina side project, Radioclit are poised to be Europe’s answer to Diplo. Look our for DJ Tron’s new Uppercuts imprint, and their forthcoming date at Fabric alongside Diplo himself.

Bonde Do Role- Melo Do Tabaco (Radioclit Remix)


Edu K is another mover and shaker of the nu-funk scene, and a couple of BDR’s best remixes have been for him. Check out the wonderfully cheesy “Sex O Matic” remix (you’re not mistaken, that really is Zombie Nation you can hear in there!), and the calypso infused “Hot Mama”. Solid Groove has also done an amazing remix of “Sex O Matic”, so hunt down that vinyl, kids!

Edu K- Sex O Matic (Bonde Do Role Remix)


Edu K- Hot mama (Bonde Do Role Remix)


Look out for some more fresh Brazilian fruits in the next few days.