MC Bin Laden and the Politics of São Paulo's Funk Proibido

Key facts

• MC Bin Laden is the most visible figure of São Paulo's funk proibido.
• His video 'Bin Laden Não Morreu' features a gold-plated Kalashnikov.
• 'Ta Tranquilo Ta Favorável' has nearly 100 million YouTube views.
• Simone Bertuzzi (Palm Wine) curated Bin Laden's intervention at MASH 2017 in Milan.
• MASH 2017 preview was in collaboration with Linecheck.
• Bertuzzi researches 'transcultures of sound' for over a decade.
• He first heard funk proibidão via a Sublime Frequencies compilation.
• The compilation included favela party recordings with gunshots, machine guns, sirens, and dogs.
• Funk proibido draws from Miami bass culture and American gangsta rap.
• Original funk emerged during Brazil's military dictatorship (ended 1980s) as political movement for Black identity.
• 1990s-2000s funk became more disengaged due to gang rivalries, media, police, and consumerism.
• Bin Laden appears shirtless in cramped corners, taking the bus, unlike other MCs with luxury cars.
• Female MCs appropriate funk ostentação's misogyny for sexual liberation.
• Sampling is seen as cultural appropriation and identity redefinition.
• Article uses concept of 'Comcities' (networked cities) by Paola Bonora.
• Author: Carlotta Petracci.
• Published in Artribune Magazine #43.