Funk Carioca Makes Comeback in Brazil Despite Bailes Crackdown

It is Carnaval time throughout South America.

Brazilians tend to celebrate with elaborate parades and music, usually samba.

But a different style of music is making a comeback.

It is called “funk carioca,” or simply “funk,” a mixture of hip-hop, samba and electronic music.

Ever since its inception, funk has had a rocky relationship with Brazilian authorities.

For a period of time in the 1990s, it was outlawed completely because of its risqué lyrics and perceived connection to Rio’s drug mafias. Now, as Rio’s police ramp up their war on the city’s gangs, funk is finding itself in trouble again.

Marlon Bishop has more.