Inside the Gashouder, the round brick gasholder at Amsterdam's Westergas, the lights go down on 23 October for a Brazilian DJ. Mochakk headlines his own CALLING night there, according to the official ADE programme. It is the loudest moment of Brazil at ADE. The Amsterdam Dance Event opens on the 21st with the country as one of the three focus regions of ADE Pro, the event's conference arm.
Is funk the next amapiano? ADE puts the question on its programme
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ADE Pro names Brazil one of three focus regions
On the conference side, the country gets a panel titled "Brazil: Musical Engine of the World?" The question mark is part of the argument. According to the ADE listing, the session cites Anitta, the Brazilian pop star most associated with taking funk abroad. It also places funk side by side with amapiano.
Funk here means Brazilian funk, the bass-heavy sound born at the baile, the street and favela parties of Rio de Janeiro, and since then rebuilt in a dozen regional styles. Amapiano is the South African house offshoot that moved from local parties to club and festival stages worldwide. Putting the two in the same sentence is a statement about trajectory. It suggests that a genre made far from the industry's centres is about to become everyone's sound.
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Funk gets compared to amapiano, but the baile still needs a stage
The comparison flatters, and it also exposes a gap. Mochakk is a house DJ, not a funk MC. Anitta is a global pop act, not a baile regular. Neither is the producer making the tracks that fill a paredão, the stacked wall of speakers that defines a funk party. Who from that world actually gets a booking in Amsterdam is still unclear from the programme.
The conversation is moving faster than the line-up. The Brazilian focus is trending on Instagram and in the electronic music press. Billboard Brasil, the music magazine, has been tracking the country's presence at the event. ADE has now said out loud what the clubs have hinted at for a while. Brazil is no longer a side note on the global dance calendar.
Amsterdam has asked the question. The answer is still being written in the baile.
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