“O Funk tá tranquilo o tá favorável?”. A qualitative content analysis on the representation of Funk by news media in Brazil, the US and UK

The focus of this thesis is on the cultural representation of Funk, a popular style of music that originated from the African diaspora present in Rio de Janeiro’s slums, Brazil, and derives from Miami bass and Gangtsa rap music. During the last two decades, Funk became an increasingly prominent genre both on a regional and global scale, occupying the top positions in Spotify streams for all main Brazilian metropolis (source from Spotify). The year of 2006 marks Funk’s first big international breakthrough, after the launch of the online video-sharing platform YouTube that greatly increased its visibility and popularity, along with the rise of prominent international DJs who started to mix this style of music in their showcases. However, the popular Brazilian genre is often represented by news media as violent because it is linked to poor urban areas where criminality and gang presence is high. Furthermore, numerous Funk songs instigate sexual violence. There have been cases of collective rape by drug factions in or after bailes that created a general outcry in international newspapers. The danger of bailes and the explicitness of some Funk lyrics casted a shadow on the genre’s image. In this sense, this popular style of music has been stigmatized, often associated with gang culture, drugs, and misogyny. It has also been criminalized by the Brazilian government, facing prejudice and police repression, what incentivized in 2009 its nomination as an official form of culture by the State of Rio de Janeiro (Law No 5543) to prevent its stigmatization - period in which the region of Latin America was living the so-called Pink Tide. This study contributes to the literature on the representation of culture by looking at popular music and how it is portrayed by the national and international media, in this case Brazilian, US and UK quality newspapers. It will collect, observe, and analyze data in terms of cultural legitimization, social & racial representation, as also in relation to criminal activity and misogyny & gender-role preferences. Articles issued in the US and UK will be discussed because of their high level of cultural authority in music and the important contribution of their national artists in Funk’s commercial success. A qualitative approach will allow the assessment of how Funk is portrayed by cultural gatekeepers, quality newspapers in this case. This research will examine what meanings were given to the popular genre and how they have evolved along the years. It also aims to understand if they differ depending on their coverage by local or foreign reporters. Furthermore, the degree of appreciation given to a specific music genre is often associated with durable social boundaries, dialoguing with the concept of symbolic distinction. As Funk began as a local manifestation of the African diaspora, the genre is a form of identity for the urban black youth living in the favelas, playing a role as emancipatory decolonial cultural practice. Nevertheless, many artists are changing this music genre’s image by singing funk 100% feminist and pro LGBTQ+, aiming at inclusion and diversity.