Apartment Rentals in Rio de Janeiro Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon

I get a lot of emails from friends wondering what the best places to stay are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The secret is that it is not in a hotel. For the same money or less, you can find an amazing studio apartment, 1/2/3 bedroom, penthouse or even your own villa. The last four places I have stayed in Rio have been hooked up through Holidays In Rio, a small local business run by Juliana, her husband Arnaud and their family of dedicated staff. All apartments are tastefully decorated, usually in a modern style, and are located close to the beach in the most desirable areas of Copacabana, Arpoador, Ipanema and Leblon. From super cute studio apartments, to mind blowing penthouses, Holidays In Rio connects you with nothing but the best. There is certainly no other apartment rental service in Rio with properties featured in Architectural Digest! Now that that is sorted, who wants to come visit?!

contact Arnaud & Juliana
Phone : +55.21.7828.6383
email : info@holidaysinrio.com

Copa 7 Edit: Fofoqueira

Here's a tasty little edit I did of one of my favorite songs from the legendary Copa 7, one of the Black Rio movements greatest bands.

'Fofoqueira', from the groups debut album, 'Som do Copa 7', stands out a bit for it's disco boogie goes to Brazil vibe. My edit stays fairly true to the original, extending out a few sections while removing some of the more obtuse break downs.

For more information on this legendary samba/soul/funk outfit, check out what Ed Motta has to say over at Whatmusic.com. To get a sense of the time in place in which this music was made, Ed's short essay is essential reading!

Fofoqueira
Copa 7
tee's edit (320kb)

Been A Long Time (Que Tempo, Cara)

Not that many people ever followed this blog, but for those who did and actually noticed my absence...sorry to leave you hangin'. I was out of the country for a few months sorting out visa issues. But the good folks at the Brazilian Consulate in DC have seen fit to allow me back in....so here we go again!

So what's been happening in Rio since we last did this thing? Well, the police are now 'permanently' occupying three favelas (including City of God) in a test of new strategy , Marcelo D2 dropped a new album (complete with a guest spot by my home girl, Zuzuka Poderosa), the cops continue to kill at will (including each other) and funk carioca still continues to blast out of Rio's 700+ favelas.

Before I went AWOL on this thing, I had promised you some video from my gig at the womans prison. In the spirit of 'better late than never', I'll leave you for now with this clip of baile funk in a womans prison.

A Unique Gig

pictured above: finalists in last years Miss Garota TB beauty pageant. photo: O Globo

Tomorrow I will be djing in front of an audience consisting of members of the international press, various Brazilian celebrities, a documentary film crew and a captive (literally) audience of very attractive Brazilian woman. Where and what is this dream gig? The Garota TB beauty pageant in the Talavera Bruce Womans Penitentiary, Gericinó Penitentiary Complex; Rio state's largest such facility.

The contest, which has taken place for the last 5 years, draws international media attention and is used a tool for empowerment and rehabilitation of the female prisoners. While I've never been big on beauty pageants (and have certainly never djed at one), this sounds like a great progressive program to support and too interesting an opportunity to pass up. Where else would I ever get the chance to see a beauty queen crowned sporting a tattoo of a machine gun on her back (see: last years winner, Dione Normando Pires)?

Updates (including video if I can get my camera in) to come!

New Mix From Dj Edgar

I've fallen off hard recently on the blog updates due to other more pressing issue occupying my thoughts. But I wanted to get this out to you all, a new funk mix from my man Dj Edgar [via Z share]. Edgar is gearing up for his European tour now so if you're in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland or Sweden, be sure to check him out.

Funk on CNN?!

Baile Funk has been described (by those borrowing freely from KRS One) as the CNN of the favelas. Now carioca funk and it's culture are being profiled by CNN via a new film, Favela On Blast. Whether this means anything or not to your average funkeiro, it certainly sets a new bench mark for funk's world wide acceptance.

The film, directed by Leandro HBL and Wesley "Diplo" Pentz with production support from Philly's Mad Decent Crew, saw it's international debut this past month at the Rio International Film Festival.

MC Gi de Santos

It's always a good day when I awake to find new tracks from DJ Edgar in my inbox. This morning's delivery brought to me two new productions he's just completed featuring up and coming Paulista funkiera, Giovanna Avino, better known as MC Gi.

Gi got peoples attention recently when she entered into the running to replace Marina from Bonde do Role. While she didn't win the coveted spot with the group, she did manage to garner props from Brazilian Rolling Stone magazine and producer Edu K.

While I don't have a whole lot more information for you right now on MC Gi, I do know she has a full length CD in the works and there is a good chance these two tracks may find there way onto it. So keep your ear out for more in the future and, until then, enjoys these cuts courtesy of Edgar.

MC Gi - Origami (DJ Edgar)
MC Gi - Kama Sutra (DJ Edgar)
DNA (DJ Edgar)

MC Gi on Myspace