Brazilian funk always makes its way toward foreign audiences in organic, unplanned, surprising ways. It’s seen in the TikTok trends of “Tubarão te amo” and “Parado no Bailão” during the FIFA World Cup 2022, the unexpected success of Bibi Perigosa in East Europe, the use of Brazilian funk samples by artists like Kanye West and DJs like Bjork, and in collaborations of Brazilian funk artists with Drake and Karol G. There are plenty of small breakthrough moments of Brazilian funk to name. But there hasn’t been a thread connecting them.
Although genuine, Brazilian funk’s worldwide viral moments are random. The Brazilian Government has made efforts to explore the country’s culture as a soft power, but Brazilian funk has not gotten any boost from them. How far could Brazilian funk go while relying on TikTok trends, soccer players’ goal celebration dances, or the selective hype from Pitchfork writers?
Many Brazilian funk artists rely on luck to break overseas or merely ride the wave of success when it presents itself. However, one specific artist was not comfortable with settling for that. After achieving everything and more in the local scene, Anitta wanted more. She wanted not only herself but Brazilian funk to become a global powerhouse. She needed a plan for that. So she made one.
Anitta inserted herself into the reggaeton scene early enough for her presence to feel natural and benefit from the even bigger hype the genre would get in upcoming years. She became the only Brazilian A-list reggaeton artist among all the others from Spanish-speaking countries backgrounds. She learned Spanish and was patient enough to explore the sonic connection between reggaeton and Brazilian funk in small bits, like a mother introducing vegetables to a picky eater kid by mixing a few pieces in their mac and cheese.
On her path toward cementing her status in the reggaeton scene, she also made it to the US and European markets (and even made a small appearance in the K-pop market), expanding charts for the seeds she planted. Little by little, she built the foundation to one day immerse international audiences in a full [Anitta] Baile Funk Experience (the name of her 2024 tour).
The moment has arrived. All of Anitta’s plans led her to create Funk Generation.
This is Anitta’s first full album that explores the genre for international audiences. The music is probably not the catchiest Anitta ever released or ever will, but Funk Generation has what it takes to be a watershed — for Anitta’s career (unless she means it when she says she might retire from the music industry soon) and for Brazilian funk. To call it a concept album would be a reach, but it’s a purposeful album with well-thought-out production.
Brazilian funk is not a “100% Brazilian musical genre” as Anitta defined it in the album’s promotions on Instagram, and this is partially why Funk Generation works as a “foreign listeners”-oriented project. Anitta knows that sounding unfamiliar to many crowds at once is part of making one specific thing feel familiar to one specific crowd. In her case, it’s Brazilian funk that she wants to showcase to a non-Brazilian crowd.
The production of Funk Generation cleverly explores Brazilian funk’s resemblances with EDM and with Miami Bass, one of the genres that inspired Brazilian funk. The melodies echo patterns of those of reggaeton (“Fria“), Mariah Carey-esque pop (“AHI“), and club anthems (“Lose Ya Breath“). The lyrics are in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. It’s a strange fusion, but it works as its own thing, which stands somewhere between a market effort and a display of Brazilian funk as an art form.
Throughout her career, Anitta has ventured into many music genres that don’t even come close to her roots. And still, Funk Generation is the least safe album she has ever released. She even curses in it more than in the songs released in her language.
“Lose Ya Breath” does its job as the first track by introducing the listener to what Funk Generation is intended to be: a slightly disturbing experience that will leave you breathless as you try to keep up with Anitta’s pace. On the other hand, the closing track, “Mil Veces”, is the most similar to Anitta’s roots as a funk melody MC. The journey between is chaotic and immersive. Several breeds of Brazilian funk appear through subtle production elements, almost like the album is intended to give a subconscious lecture about the genre’s history.
In recent years, perhaps FBC & VHOOR’s Baile (2021) or Deize Tigrona’s Foi eu que fiz (2022) are better recommendations for someone who wants a glimpse of how aesthetically cohesive a Brazilian funk album can be. (Both artists, by the way, are obvious influences to Funk Generation in tracks like “Grip” and “Savage Funk”.) Funk Generation is still a pop album designed for an artist whose appeal goes beyond music. Anitta is too much of a dynamo to be only listened to. It’s no wonder the album tour is named Baile Funk Experience.
However you feel about Funk Generation, it’s a necessary album. Maybe it will go down as only an attempt. Maybe, just like “Medicina” could have been Anitta’s “Shakira moment”, Funk Generation will not fulfill its entire potential. What is potential when we’re talking of an inherently introductory project?
Funk Generation presents Brazilian funk to those unfamiliar with the genre. It does not promise anything other than that (or to “make you lose your breath”). Depending on who you ask, that may be a humble or a bold promise. Does Brazilian funk need a sommelier like Anitta? It may not have needed her to go viral countless times worldwide, but the music deserves someone who takes its global projection as seriously as Anitta does.