It might come as a surprise to non-Brazilians that the trailblazing pop star Anitta first started her career as an MC. In Brazil, this means you’re a baile funk singer. Born in Rio suburbs, the MC Anitta came up playing public court parties with massive, 10-feet-high sound systems blasting heavy kicks and crispy snares all night long, real baile funk indeed. Her new album Funk Generation is a tribute to those early beginnings, and also a platform to experiment with the global pop unfolding in the many sonic palettes of today’s baile funk. But the goal isn’t always fulfilled.
Anitta has assembled a formidable team to realize her baile funk vision. This includes the duo Tropkillaz, responsible for blending the latest European and U.S. trends with the raw essence of baile funk. Additionally, the crew Brabo Music merges avant-garde samples and cartoon noises with the pop sounds of Brazilian funk. Music producer Marcio Arantes oversees the harmonization and development of this ensemble, alongside DJ Gabriel do Borel, a central player in Rio’s scene. (His loops and samples have been featured on Rosalía’s Motomami, among others albums.)
The album shines when Anitta spotlights funk in all its rawness and recklessness — the same qualities that propelled the genre to such popularity in Brazil. At its best, baile funk is a blend of harsh drum attacks intertwined by melodious or fierce vocals. Many of Anitta’s experiments are a success: “Savage Funk” patches up EDM build-ups with the bold kicks of automotivo (a strain of São Paulo favela baile funk known as mandelão) and leads the way to “JogaPaLua,” running the tamborzão beat gamut, a quintessential sound of early baile funk. The drums on “Cria de Favela” lays the groundwork while Anitta goes back and forth from singing to bar-spitting. It’s her baile funk MC side speaking out loud. The weird, deconstructed “Sabana” is an album highlight, drawing from funk de Minas Gerais, a Brazilian state that’s home to a somber kind of funk.
Anitta goes beyond her Brazilian linkups and keeps up with her Latin American and Spanish-language endeavors — a remarkable approach for a Brazilian artist who’s been establishing her place in Latin music for years, including on her last album, Versions of Me. In the reggaeton-meets-funk track “Double Team,”, Anitta sings with Spanish artist Bad Gyal and Puerto Rican rapper Brray. Breaking through various Latin American sounds, she infuses ‘Aceita’ with dembowsera vibes. Her rapping is also on point in English in “Grip.” When she goes back to singing, she ramps up the fast-paced melodies in the 150 BPM funk “Ahi,” featuring Sam Smith.
The album thrives when Anitta takes risks, whether she’s showcasing puzzle-like beats or singing catchy lines over weird, harsh samples. Still, the album’s vibrancy fades away in several spots. “Meme” and “Love in Common” jaunt across baile funk but never quite take off, though they’ll probably do well for 2024 summer playlists. “Mil Veces” lacks the punch of a reggaeton hit, ending up as a track that feels more like a filler. With baile funk being so vast, Anitta sometimes sounds timid in her choices.
When it was first announced, Funk Generation seemed like a powerhouse project that would unleash a baile tour de force in global pop, similar to what Rosalía did with flamenco in El Mal Querer. It falls short of this task. While it’s admirable to witness an attempt that will surely keep the baile funk wheel spinning globally, it’s also reasonable to expect more from Anitta. She’s the first Brazilian pop star who’s made it into the international conversation in such a major way, not to mention a talented businesswoman and a genre-buster music-maker. Introducing baile funk to a new audience is a goal she already reached. Yet, she has what it takes to pioneer the future of baile funk in pop, and to captivate audiences both in Brazil and around the world.
