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In 2011, Konrad Dantas was not having much success as an aspiring Brazilian rapper.
I saw I had more talent making videos than doing rap, he remembers.
But I want it to become the greatest in the world.
His success has given baile funk an unprecedented platform for exposure.
And, in turn, baile funk has started to move to the rest of the world.
Its having a global impact, Venus X adds.
I hear it on almost every dance floor that I am on.
But much has changed in baile funk over time.
It was considered to be the music from the poor and the criminals, Haaksman says.
That didnt diminish its allure for outsiders.
It blew my brain apart, he says.
Over time, the original American instrumentals were warped.
In the mid-2000s, European and American tastemakers fell briefly in love with baile funk.
The same year, Haaksman compiledFavela Booty Beats, Diplo released a mixtape titledFavela on Blast.
He calls his discovery of baile funk a liberation.
Then came dubstep, and the hype [in Europe and America] faded, Haaksman says.
They also added harmonies and melodies of pop music.
Some of that stuff now sounds like some of the best-produced music in the world, Switch says.
This formula worked just as well here as anywhere else.
Naturally the visual format was especially valuable for displaying the perks of a quick trip up the income ladder.
(The Senate rejected the bill.)
Kondzilla also gave a genre that was developing a slicker sonic palette the slick visuals to match.
[Baile] funk didnt have video clips well made, adds Joao Brasil.
The guy who revolutionized that was Kondzilla.
Dantas sees baile funks new prominence as part of a wave he calls urban music global.
And Joao Brasil describes baile funks ascent in the same manner.
[Baile funk] is our main urban style in Brazil, he says.
That connects with all the urban artists around the world; its the same language.
For Dantas, there are still corners of the globe he hopes to conquer.
I think the year of 2018 will be fundamental to expand [baile] funk worldwide, he says.
There are serious executives and major labels working for it to happen, including me.
