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DJ K was only 17 when he began producing funk, spending a full year meticulously studying online FL Studio tutorials and producing his own tracks at a prolific rate. When he eventually shared his output online, he immediately became a main component of Baile do Helipa, the street party of Heliópolis, São Paulo's biggest favela with a population of over 100,000. He currently leads the musical collective Bruxaria Sound, that comprises 17 artists, including MCs, producers and DJs. Bruxaria evokes the sinister and eerie atmosphere of funk, spiking it with a noisy musicality that pushes the limits of sound and body — not surprisingly, it's also become known as "eardrum-bleeds" or "headphone-destroying".

Brazilian funk emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1980s from the synthesis of various electronic music influences, from Latin freestyle to Miami bass, passing through rap and electro; Kraftwerk's "Boing Boom Tschak" for example was known in the favelas as "Melô do Porco", which means something like "The Pig Song". And although the sound of Rio de Janeiro was as sunny and joyful as its beaches, in São Paulo the scene veered in a more nocturnal and sinister direction, with lyrics referencing antiheroes and villains and dance moves that were awkward and freakish, such as Magrão and Roano. Artists like Bin Laden and MC Kauan would perform alongside dancers dressed as jokers, clowns, exorcists, nuns and other horror archetypes.

This profane, carnivalesque atmosphere is taken beyond its limit by DJ K, who saturates Arabic chants, devastating kicks and rowdy textures pushing everything into the red. A key component of his sound is known locally as 'tuin', a hyper-shrill and piecing squeal like the sirens on 'Isso Não é um Teste' and 'Sequência Terrorista de Heliópolis'. What at first might seem irritating and provocative is actually intimately interfaced with the environment and lifestyle of São Paulo's bailes. Tuin is what the baile funk enthusiasts call the auditory hallucination caused by lança perfume, one of the most used drugs in funk culture. Mostly chloroethane mixed with perfume and often sold in pre-packaged high-pressure tubes, its effects are an increased heart rate, euphoria, and sensitivity to high-volume and high-pitched sounds. Thus, the sound of tuin is skillfully designed by DJs to build a hallucinogenic experience that goes beyond music. What some understand as noise, in baile funk is a stimulus for a trip to the edges of consciousness: the impulsive and uncontrollable desire to dance or move — or "embrazar", as they say in the bailes.

On 'Viagem ao Oculto' and 'Isso não é um Teste', each element of the beat changes several times throughout the track, as if there were several small songs within one. This constant metamorphosis is a technique used by DJ K to capture the attention of an audience that's as hooked into YouTube and social media as they are their local favela soundsystems. DJ K's sonic alchemy connects the body to his software and "paredões" technologies, creating his own radical musical framework.

Nyege Nyege Tapes is a Kampala based label exploring, producing and releasing outsider music from around the region and beyond.

We fulfill orders twice weekly, so most items will be shipped out within 3-5 days of your order being placed, with tracking provided automatically. We ship all records in whiplash mailers with extra cardboard protection.

For bookings email tapes@nyegenyege.com

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