Selections: BADSISTA
In this series, Selections, we invite DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their collections. This week, BADSISTA spotlights 10 club belters from the Brazilian underground and beyond
“For young people of the gueto in São Paulo, what we call ‘rave’ is trance, psytrance, prog trance,” the Brazilian DJ and producer BADSISTA told DJ Mag in early 2020, explaining the sound of a mix she had put together for our Recognise series. But, the artist born Rafaela Andrade hastened to add, “I can fit in really fresh funk from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, without taking off the pressure.”
In the years since, they’ve leaned ever-more heavily into a high-impact version of the latter, both in their productions and their DJ sets. Check out their latest EP — out now on TraTraTrax, for example. The three original cuts on ‘Gueto Club’ are tightly coiled bursts of party music, a skewed reimagining of baile funk that’s pretty irresistible.
Here, BADSISTA spotlights 10 releases that have been rocking their DJ sets, all of them beaming from somewhere between South America and the furthest reaches of outer space. Dive in below.
“The first EP from Achille, aka Kontronatura, is an amazing example of how the Brazilian underground is strong. Rhythmic lines of funk, but totally drunk on fresh and tight sounds and a really good bass.”
“I have been vibing to this for some time now. It’s incredible how they can make it work so good on the dancefloor and, at the same time, take you to a trip to some kind of apocalyptic Beirut past the third millennium. I really love to hear the future."
“The famous ‘tuim’ or ‘bruxaria’ — the pure funk from São Paulo. Straight beats with strong kicks, super acid lead synths, lots of reverb, and again: This is how the ghetto in Brazil can give us amazing and creative artists.”
“Brazilian electronic music is so fucking rich right now. I just can’t get enough of it. The best part of it is the honor of listening to different approaches to what funk can give us, and CRAZED (BR) has been doing this for some time now. I love how the mixing of styles give us big hits for the dancefloor.”
“IDLIBRA is one of the best DJs in Brazil right now in my opinion. She was preparing herself for so long to release this EP, and now I can see why. Just perfect. ‘Ração’ is one of my biggest dancefloor hits this year.”
“The queen of 160 BPM, direct from the south of Brazil. Every track I play from ERAM is always fire on the dancefloor.”
“I just love everything about this track. The vocals, the sample, the beat — and the dynamics are just amazing. This works so good on the dancefloor. I think it’s because the funk producers from RJ have mastered the skill of chopping up sounds and use the vocals to make the beats feel even more beautiful.”
“Hiedrah is an Argentinian label, and one of my favourite labels in the world. They are always giving us super interesting sounds. I can even say they create a trend in Latin music, releasing stuff from producers like Tayhana and Lechuga Zafiro. I love this track from Conejx — it gives us the speed, but also some good and calm feelings.”
“This is exactly what’s written on their profile: ‘futuristic and obscure cumbia.’ Probably one of the best things you’re going to hear in a while. I love music that just takes your hand and spins you round and round through the dancefloor. Impossible not to dance.”
“Do you know what I’m talking about? Chop sounds, big 808 sub bass, videogame samples inside the rhythm loops. This is so genius, so gold, just perfect. Futuristic high energy. Let’s go!”
