DJ Marlboro
Fernando Luiz Mattos da Matta, better known as DJ Marlboro, is a Brazilian DJ.
Career
Founding a genre, making albums
DJ Marlboro is one of the originators of the funk carioca, a crossover between electro, hip-hop, and Brazilian popular music, itself drawing heritage from African traditional music. His first LP, Funk Brasil (1989), marks the beginning of the Funk Carioca Movement, initially with versions of hip-hop and freestyle hits from American artists, especially the 2 Live Crew ("Do Wah Diddy" became "Melô da Mulher Feia" and "One and One" became "Melô dos Números"), sung in Portuguese. He got the idea of making Portuguese versions of American songs by paying attention to how people at parties that played freestyle music in Rio de Janeiro, known as "baile funk," would create and sing their own versions of the songs, in Portuguese, as they couldn't understand English, and how they would nickname the songs as "melô do..." ("the ... song"), since the original name of the songs, in English, was too difficult for them to pronounce and memorize. The best example is his first song, "Melô da Mulher Feia" ("song of the ugly woman"), which was how patrons of the "baile funk" would call the 2 Live Crew's version of "Do Wah Diddy," as they would sing along "mulher feia chupa o ... e dá o ..." ("ugly woman sucks ... and gives ...") to the 2 Live Crew's tune. He then made a PG version of the song and recorded it, and was a smash hit on the radio, prompting him to create more songs and record his first album. Later on, Marlboro and others started writing their own songs, and he released several albums. He used to live in a district of the Rio de Janeiro city that was very distant, nicknamed "Marlboro Country" by his peers, who started calling him "Marlboro," and the nickname stuck. DJ Marlboro is the host and producer of the radio show "Big Mix in Rio". DJ Marlboro was introduced to a worldwide audience In 2004 when German journalist, record label owner and fellow DJ, Daniel Haaksman formed Man Recordings and recruited both DJ Marlboro and Edu-K and DJ Marlboro - creating a link between South American and European artists.[1]
Views on funk
DJ Marlboro credits the resurgence of funk fever in Brazil to the cyclical nature of musical fads, saying in his 23 years as a DJ, he's witnessed the funk explosion several times.[2] Brazilian bailes, well attended dance parties that played American soul, disco, and funk music, featured heavy bass sounds and light systems. DJ Marlboro's Portuguese rapping in his 1989 LP “Funk Brazil” helped introduce Portuguese music into these bailes, where the heavy bass sounds became a platform for this new sound.[3] As a result, by the mid-1990s most of the music played by funk DJs was produced in Brazil.[4] Currently, DJ Marlboro is the resident DJ at São Paulo's Lov.e Club.[5] DJ Marlboro maintains that “funk is a way of expression that was born from the common people”.[2] To him, funk is at its best when most people are unaware of it, preventing the exploitation of artists. DJ Marlboro expresses the importance of its underlying culture by asserting that the movement need not be glorified or globally successful. He insists that funk will always continue to be played, whether the world can hear it or not. 5 He urges listeners to understand that it is a musical movement that has sprung from culture and a passion to tell the truth; not from the need to accept and nationalize music from other parts of the world, particularly the United States. He acknowledges that recordings are not a priority for funk artists, because the point is to go the bailes and dance.[6] He knows first hand the hardships of being a funk artist, in a separate interview he says, "We suffer a lot of persecution. At one recent baile, the police came in and shut it down... My sound systems have bullet holes in them from police attacks.”[7] DJ Marlboro has transcended this situation, however, as he has now become international and has teamed up with recognized artists such as M.I.A.[8] Through these various collaborations, DJ Marlboro has played a significant role in increasing the popularity of funk carioca not only within Brazil, but at the global level as well. In fact, he has been one of the main players in taking funk abroad, playing shows throughout Europe (Britain, Germany, France), The United States, and even China.[9] Marlboro's sets have been in demand in some of the major electronic festivals in the world, festivals such as Sonar in Spain, Brasil 40 Degrees in London, Summer Stage Central Park in New York, Tim Festival in Rio, Sonarsound in São Paulo and Elektronika in Belo Horizonte.[10]
Personal life
In 2009, DJ Marlboro was under investigation for pedophilia. The criminal investigation was launched in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after claims were made that DJ Marlboro had allegedly abused a four-year-old girl. The investigation concluded without charges being filed.[11]
References
- ↑ "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World". 21 June 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cumming, Andy. An Interview with DJ Marlboro, June 2003
- ↑ Bellos, Alex (June 2005). "Coke. Guns. Booty. Beats". Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ↑ Cumming, Andy (June 2003). "An Interview with DJ Marlboro". Archived from the original on 2004-04-22. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ↑ http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=658 Archived 2009-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Brazilian Wax: The New Yorker
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedblender.com - ↑ Bucky Done Gun [DJ Marlboro Funk Carioca Remix] Lyrics | M.I.A. |MTV
- ↑ Cumming, Andy. "Who Let the Yobs Out?" Stylus Magazine, 21 November 2005.
- ↑ "DJ Marlboro's Biography". Last.fm.
- ↑ CPI da Pedofilia convoca DJ Marlboro para depoimento