MC BIN LADEN

MC Bin Laden, aka 23-year-old Jefferson Christian dos Santos Lima, is the reigning ruler of São Paulo’s Baile Funk scene. Born in the impoverished Vila Progresso neighborhood of easternmost São Paulo, Jefferson began rapping as a teenager, mostly on YouTube. His life changed in 2014 when he released “Bin Laden Não Morreu,” a breakout track heard throughout the fluxo street parties of Brazil’s favelas. MC Bin Laden performs Funk Proibidão, a contemporary version of the reigning archetypal sound of the favelas, Funk Carioca. While early incarnations of the Funk Carioca sound were rooted in Miami Bass, Proibidão is a striking and skeletal reduction. Beats composed of beatboxed vocal samples and industrial sounds that bang and rattle alon...