Godfather of Funk Carioca: Dj Marlboro

The Godfather Meets The San FranCarioca: Zero Zero, Rio de Janeiro, BR

We went out to Zero Zero last night to support a new party thrown by my girlfriend's friend, Polyana. Instead of the usual house music fare, the night was devoted to what Cariocas call 'Black Music', or what we know basically as funk. The distinction is necessary because what they call 'funk' is something entirely different. When they say funk, it means only one thing... carioca funk, or what we know as baile funk.

I had the pleasure of kicking it part of the evening with the godfather of carioca funk, Dj Marlboro....another old friend of Roberta (I swear, she knows the whole city). I think she was a tad hesitant to introduce me for fear I would geek out on him on the music tip and embarrass her (full disclosure: of course i did. but by the end of it we were singing his version of 2 live Crew's 'One & One' [the numbers song] in Portuguese together). The man really is a rock star here as the camera crew following him around and the constant stream of well wishers/jockers would attest. Despite all this, he came across with a deep humility and great sense of humor....a true ambassador to his art.


In 1989, Marlboro forever changed the course of Brazilian party music when he featured local MCs rapping in Portuguese over Miami style electro beats on his first album, 'Funk Brasil' [via rapidshare]. Even the great British dj, compiler and BBC Radio 1 presenter, Giles Peterson, couldn't hype him enough on his podcast from Brazil in 2007. I have taken an excerpt of the interview and posted it below for your listening ease but the whole series is worth a listen. [thanks to schnezzy for putting me up on this!]


Giles Peterson interviewing Dj Marlboro for his 'In Brasil' podcast

Marlboro returned to the pre funk carioca old school last night, hyping the dance floor with a throbing mix of 70's funk (Funk Americano, yo!) and disco. Nothing too deep or obscure, just solid party rockers presented in a way unique to carioca funk djs; cd mixer as instrument. Using the cue button, he would trigger sections of a cut in a percussive manner (it's all about the percussion here) while ridding out the previous track. I captured a bit of his set with my digi cam but, as you would expect, the audio leaves a bit to be desired. Irregardless, the godfather of funk carioca (a fairly rough & tough genre of music) returning to his disco roots... and feelin' it... is a fun moment worth sharing. Boogie on, brother.

Dj Marlboro dropping 'Let's Groove Tonight' for the kids at 00