A hug and being praised by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was not enough, Brazilian singer Valesca Popozuda wants the president to help her make funk known internationally. Valesca Popozuda has been thinking about something else since she had two minutes with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Wednesday (03), at the PAC […]
A hug and being praised by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was not enough, Brazilian singer Valesca Popozuda wants the president to help her make funk known internationally.
Valesca Popozuda has been thinking about something else since she had two minutes with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Wednesday (03), at the PAC construction site, in Complexo do Alemão, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To achieve her goal, the singer wrote a “beat” for the president, which she hopes to deliver by hand.
An excerpt from Lula‘s beat: “Mr. President, please recognize it. Funk is culture and it doesn’t get out of my head. You belong to the people. Listen to what he says. I’m Valesca, I represent the favela, but I want to be happy”.
In Brazil, funk is the target of prejudice and attempts to criminalize it, and singers and businessmen in the sector fear reprisals for exposing themselves politically.
There is an attempt in the country to keep funk hidden, singers of the funk rhythm rarely perform in agricultural exhibitions, held and supported annually by municipal governments with payments of millionaire fees.
