A Wave of Tropical Bass Hits Rio
Tropical Bass is growing and hits Rio de Janeiro. Rio Times says:
For the uninitiated, tropical bass is a catchall name for bass-heavy dance music that generally originates in tropical climates. Brazil’s main contribution to the mix is funk carioca, the digital hip-hop beat that ricochets all over Rio.
Other examples include Angolan kuduro, South African kwaito, pan-Latino cumbia and reggaetón, Jamaican dancehall, Trinidadian soca, West African hip-hop, Ivorian coupé decalé, and Colombian champeta.
All of these musical styles are, in general, digitally produced – though more traditional cumbia is performed by bands – and draws heavily on hip-hop aesthetics as well as house and techno beats. Kwaito, for example, is the South African name for house music, and often features rappers in native languages like Zulu.
DJs, mostly based in North America and Europe but increasingly in South America, have started to connect the musical dots between these disparate sounds. While a variety of names have been proposed – global ghettotech and world music 2.0, for example – tropical bass has become one of the most prevalent.
Couldn’t say it any better. For more on that genre browse to our webside TropicalBass.com.
