“Musical subcultures between rebellion, controlling formats and business ideas Berlin and Rio De Janeiro” is the topic of a panel discussion in Club Monarch in Berlin-Kreuzberg this coming Thursday (18th of June). The panel will discuss the book “FUNK THE CITY” in which the relations of urban every day life of Rio De Janeiro and Berlin are in focus, with their musical subcultures of hip hop and baile funk – which are stigmatised by the middle class with terms such as ghetto, violence and marginality. Do these cultural practices from the urban peripheries present new ideas for a “policy after politics”? Do they offer any resistant “urban action” with which the inhabitants of both the favelas and the immigrant quarters can fight against their marginalisation? Or do they merely create “exotic” music and life stles with an economic surplus which are skimmed by the global cultural industries? Or are they even instrumentalised by the reigning powers, accessing the particular cultural practises of the “poor” and thus ruling them ?
“Funk The City” is based on long term research and various interviews with activists from both Berlin and Rio De Janeiro and collected analyses, essays, talks, photos and lyrics about the sound and urban action from the peripheries of Rio De Janeiro and Berlin.

“FUNK THE CITY” Book release party @ Club Monarch in Kreuzberg, 18th of June, 9PM

Another reason to finally learn some German for y´all Anglo Saxons out there is the new book “Funk The City”, which will be released by Berlin based publisher B_Books next week. “Funk The City” focuses on the urban every day life of Rio De Janeiro and Berlin and the subcultures of hip hop and baile funk that shape each city´s popular culture. In both cities, hip hop as well as baile funk are considered “ghetto” and associated with violence and marginality by the mainstream press. “Funk The City” asks: Do baile funk and hip hop represent a culture of urban action as resistance, with which the residents of the stigmatised favelas as well as Berlin immigrant quarters fight symbolically against their social marginalisation? Do they create more than “exotic” music and lifestyles or are they are a mere economic surplus which gets skimmed by the global cultural industries? “Funk The City” is based on year long researches and various interviews with activists from both cities, summarizing analyses, essays, talks, photos and lyrics of the sounds and cultural practice from the peripheries of Rio De Janeiro and Berlin. Featuring interviews with Mr.Catra, DJ Marlboro, Denise Garcia (director of “I´m Ugly But I´m Trendy”), myself and many others.

“FUNK THE CITY- SOUNDS UND STÄDTISCHES HANDELN AUS DEN PERIPHERIEN VON RIO DE JANEIRO UND BERLIN”
By Stephan Lanz/Gese Dorner/Katharina Gaber/Nele Harlan
Nadine Jäger/Sigurd Jennerjahn/Birke Otto/Swantje Plähn
Berlin, b_books, 2008

metroZones 9/b_books

218 Pages
ISBN 978-3-933557-91-9

Price: 18 €