Peak Time – Vincent Rosenblatt on Baile Funk and Tecno Brega

We're headed south of the equator to Brazil, where soundsystem culture is being pushed forward via the homegrown sounds of baile funk and tecno brega. Vincent Rosenblatt — whose photographs transmit the explosive energy of these scenes — joins Vivian on air to talk about the unique force that is Rio de Janeiro's funk scene: Its creativity, individuality and the way the music and culture intersects with the complex politics and economics of the favelas. Rosenblatt then guides us north to the Amazonian city of Belem, where melodic love songs of the 1960s have morphed into a high-speed electronic style called tecno brega, played by generations-old soundsystems that resemble giant buffalo and spaceships. Join us on this wild ride, complete with proibidão and putaria new and old, from the likes of MC Dede, MC Livinho, DJ Byano and Deize Tigrona.