1 Bonde Do Role
Scene & Unheard: Brazil
Issue #31
By Joel Cusumano
Published: March 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
Bonde do Role
LABEL: Mad Decent
PLAYERS: Marina Ribatski (MC), Pedro D’eyrot (MC), Rodrigo Gorky (DJ)
INFLUENCES: In Gorky’s own words: “Everything kinda influences us! From John Waters movies to cheap jokes told by our drunk friends, and cheesy songs we listen to on crappy FMs, all this is used in the band.”
SOUNDS LIKE: The (fake) word “popozãodelica” comes as close as anything to describe Bonde Do Role but still doesn’t do justice to their kaleidoscopic mix of party rap, stripped-down “tamborzão” (the singular back-beat of Brazilian DJ funk), and the occasional modern rock sample.
THE LOWDOWN: Bonde Do Role’s three core members met in their hometown of Curitiba, Brazil, and soon an Internet leak of some of their early tracks began a word-of-mouth buzz among São Paulo hipsters. Baltimore club DJ and M.I.A. producer Diplo soon picked them up on his new label, Mad Decent, and they toured the U.S. and Europe with fellow Brazilians CSS in 2006.
RANDOM FACT: During Bonde Do Role’s summer tour, Ribatski injured her arm while crowd surfing and auctioned off her cast on eBay to raise money for the medical bills. It sold for $68.58.
URL: myspace.com/bondedorole
Bonde Das Impostora
LABEL: unsigned
PLAYERS: DJ Mulher (DJ/MC), MC Morfética (MC), Über Nagoshi (MC), Pão Tonto (guitar)
INFLUENCES: Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, 2 Live Crew, Elliott Smith, Paris Hilton, The Little Mermaid, Leslie Nielsen, Missy Elliott, Scissor Sisters, Lovefoxxx’s leopard leggings, and George Foreman grills
SOUNDS LIKE: Imagine if Timbaland produced a circa-1988 Salt-N-Pepa rapping in Portuguese. The lyrics are about “the metabolic syndrome hysteria, bi-curiosity, nerd pride, naughty UFOs in Area 51, and love as a challenge for smart girls.”
THE LOWDOWN: The crew met in college in the early ’00s and began exchanging lyrics over the Internet and meeting to work on choreography for shows. The band says, “We feel the obsession with trashy and absurd fairyland celebrity culture is a way for people living dead-end lives to disconnect themselves from a bland reality.” Os Princesa is working on its first album.
RANDOM FACT: Princesa cut a remix of Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” called “SexNews,” which is available on their MySpace page.
URL: myspace.com/osprincesa
Os Princesa
LABEL: unsigned
PLAYERS: Barbara Santos (MC), Cello Zero (DJ and MC), Lella Souza (MC)
INFLUENCES: Miami bass, Comunidade Ninjitsu, Sonic Youth, Deize Tigrona, Daft Punk, Scissor Sisters, Nirvana
SOUNDS LIKE: Feisty back-and-forth rapping over Casiotone presets with bubbly new-wave synth leads. The band takes its lead from the funk music of Brazilian favelas. “(You) can describe us as some rock fans trying to renew the funk carioca beat,” they say.
THE LOWDOWN: Bonde Das Impostora, approximately “Faker Crew” in English, formed when Santos and original member Vicky wrote a song mocking their friends’ band, Bonde Do Role. Cello Zero heard the song and joined the two girls as its DJ. Since then, the band’s continued the spirit of mockery in their music, making fun of things such as fotologgers, indie snobs, and other bands as well as posting self-ridiculing manifestos on their MySpace page.
RANDOM FACT: DJ Cello Zero is a roommate with Gorky from Bonde Do Role.
URL: myspace.com/bondedasimpostora
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