It’d come as a shock to non-Brazilians that the trailblazing pop star Anitta first began her profession as an MC. In Brazil, this implies you’re a baile funk singer. Born in Rio suburbs, the MC Anitta got here up enjoying public courtroom events with large, 10-feet-high sound methods blasting heavy kicks and crispy snares all night time lengthy, actual baile funk certainly. Her new album Funk Technology is a tribute to these early beginnings, and in addition a platform to experiment with the worldwide pop unfolding within the many sonic palettes of at this time’s baile funk. However the objective isn’t all the time fulfilled.
Anitta has assembled a formidable crew to comprehend her baile funk imaginative and prescient. This contains the duo Tropkillaz, accountable for mixing the newest European and U.S. tendencies with the uncooked essence of baile funk. Moreover, the crew Brabo Music merges avant-garde samples and cartoon noises with the pop sounds of Brazilian funk. Music producer Marcio Arantes oversees the harmonization and improvement of this ensemble, alongside DJ Gabriel do Borel, a central participant in Rio’s scene. (His loops and samples have been featured on Rosalía’s Motomami, amongst others albums.)
The album shines when Anitta spotlights funk in all its rawness and recklessness — the identical qualities that propelled the style to such recognition in Brazil. At its greatest, baile funk is a mix of harsh drum assaults intertwined by melodious or fierce vocals. A lot of Anitta’s experiments are a hit: “Savage Funk” patches up EDM build-ups with the daring kicks of automotivo (a pressure of São Paulo favela baile funk referred to as mandelão) and leads the best way to “JogaPaLua,” working the tamborzão beat gamut, a quintessential sound of early baile funk. The drums on “Cria de Favela” lays the groundwork whereas Anitta goes backwards and forwards from singing to bar-spitting. It’s her baile funk MC facet talking out loud. The bizarre, deconstructed “Sabana” is an album spotlight, drawing from funk de Minas Gerais, a Brazilian state that’s residence to a somber form of funk.
Anitta goes past her Brazilian linkups and retains up together with her Latin American and Spanish-language endeavors — a exceptional method for a Brazilian artist who’s been establishing her place in Latin music for years, together with on her final album, Variations of Me. Within the reggaeton-meets-funk observe “Double Group,”, Anitta sings with Spanish artist Dangerous Gyal and Puerto Rican rapper Brray. Breaking via varied Latin American sounds, she infuses ‘Aceita’ with dembowsera vibes. Her rapping can also be on level in English in “Grip.” When she goes again to singing, she ramps up the fast-paced melodies within the 150 BPM funk “Ahi,” that includes Sam Smith.
The album thrives when Anitta takes dangers, whether or not she’s showcasing puzzle-like beats or singing catchy traces over bizarre, harsh samples. Nonetheless, the album’s vibrancy fades away in a number of spots. “Meme” and “Love in Widespread” jaunt throughout baile funk however by no means fairly take off, although they’ll in all probability do properly for 2024 summer time playlists. “Mil Veces” lacks the punch of a reggaeton hit, ending up as a observe that feels extra like a filler. With baile funk being so huge, Anitta typically sounds timid in her selections.
When it was first introduced, Funk Technology appeared like a powerhouse mission that may unleash a baile tour de drive in international pop, much like what Rosalía did with flamenco in El Mal Querer. It falls in need of this process. Whereas it’s admirable to witness an try that can certainly maintain the baile funk wheel spinning globally, it’s additionally affordable to count on extra from Anitta. She’s the primary Brazilian pop star who’s made it into the worldwide dialog in such a serious manner, to not point out a gifted businesswoman and a genre-buster music-maker. Introducing baile funk to a brand new viewers is a objective she already reached. But, she has what it takes to pioneer the way forward for baile funk in pop, and to captivate audiences each in Brazil and around the globe.
