Around here, we decided to unite the talents that have made and continue to make the history of black Brazilian music.” – Netflix Brasil Rapper Thaíde of the duo Thaíde & DJ Hum “In The Get Down, Ezekiel “Books” Figuero makes his own history while Hip Hop takes its first steps.
The Get Down: Netflix launches clip with the national rap singers
But the video that came out certainly makes any fan of 1970s Brazilian Black Music dream of the possibilities! It’s a true homage to the influence of black American Soul, Funk and Hip Hop consumed and interpreted with Brazil’s own flavor! Check out the video and story for yourselves and then check out a brief history of the rise and fall of the Brazilian Soul and Funk movement! Photos of the clothing, shoes, afros and especially music tell us that this period in Brazilian history deserves a Netflix series of its own! And while such an idea may be far-fetched (although a documentary on this period has been released), The Get Down inspired a number of old school and new school artists to come together and re-record a classic Funk joint that is remembered as sort of an anthem of a movement that wasn’t allowed to fully materialize. The result, which started off as ‘Black Rio’, would eventually spread to other large cities of Brazil where Afro-Brazilians were learning express pride in a blackness that Brazil had taught them to deny and be ashamed of.
Thousands of miles away, in South America’s largest country, another black community was inspired by and themselves in the struggle of their cousins north of the equator as they recognized similar patterns of oppression and second class citizenship in their own situation. The struggle for black rights in the United States, from its demands during its inception (mid 1950s) to its disappointing fall by the mid to late 1970s provided an amazing soundtrack to the experience of a community seeking recognition of its humanity as well as full citizenship and access to the so-called ‘American Dream’. The release of the Netflix original series The Get Down is the backdrop to today’s story as the rise of Hip Hop music and culture in mid to late 1970s New York would go on to have international impact as inner city black kids emerged out of an era that produced Soul, Funk, Civil Rights, Black Power and eventually the Disco craze. Note from BW of Brazil: I guess you could say this under-appreciated period in Brazilian Popular Music is one of my favorites (see here, here and here)! Not only did the 1970s provide some pretty good Brazilian flavored Soul and Funk, the era is also fascinating due to the politics behind the movement’s rise and eventual demise.
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