Performing, Engaging, Knowing: Proceedings of the 7th Study Group Meeting of the ICTM Study Group on Applied Ethnomusicology, edited by Marc-Antoine Camp, Natalie Kirschstein, Johannes Kretz, Wei-ya Lin, Huib Schippers, and Yannick Wey, Lucerne 2022. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7274292 The Resurgence of Favela Funk Balls in Rio de Janeiro and the Resistance of Black Youth in the Context of 150 bpm Research Group on Ethnomusicology and Education Dona Ivone Lara (GPEDIL): Jhenifer Raul, Juliana Freire, Lucas Assis, Matheus Ferreira, Pedro Macedo Mendonça, Raphaela Yves Abstract. The state of Rio de Janeiro set historical records in 2019 for police deaths in actions such as so-called police operations in favelas, mainly located in the capital city of Rio de Janeiro. This approach of “toughening” in public security policy was also reflected in current government practices on music and culture. In an announcement widely circulated on WhatsApp early in the administration of Wilson Witzel – a judge elected in October 2018 with promises to end corruption in the state, but who was removed from office in August 2020 on suspicion of corruption – the governor promised broad repression of slum funk balls, giving ample freedom of action to military police commanders to curb these widely-attended popular parties. These developments happened at the same time as the arrest of DJ Renan da Penha, the organizer and mentor of the “Baile da Gaiola” (Cage Ball), a party that gathered thousands of people every week in the Penha slum complex, north of Rio de Janeiro, and inspired similar parties of the same name elsewhere in the city, throughout the country, and even abroad. DJ Renan and the “Baile da Gaiola” gave rise to a new and extremely young funk subgenre, the 150 bpm, in which the traditional drummer beat is sped up and its rhythmic foundations complexified through mixtures with musical genres such as the “arrocha.” In September 2018, before we imagined a state government like this, we at GPEDIL (Research Group in Ethnomusicology and Musical Education Dona Ivone Lara) defended a collectively written thesis. With 5 people presenting (4 black and one bi-racial white), a half black thesis evaluation board and a large black majority audience, it was a milestone in participatory ethnomusicology, questioning the ethnographic authority of white academic researchers about black and peripheral musical practices, and affirming our leading role in a struggle towards a more just and egalitarian world that surpasses the barriers of academia. From this perspective we would now like to analyze the 150 bpm. We present the socio-political context of resistance of this black youth, who have dared to practice funk in Rio’s favelas in this environment of increasing repression, reflecting on the possible influence of ethno- racial, gender and sexuality relations within the structure of persecution and affront to this youth. Brazil is a federal republic, divided into 26 states plus the federal district. One of these states is Rio de Janeiro, whose capital is the city of Rio de Janeiro. Recently, with the imprisonment of former governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio achieved the impressive distinction that all its governors who were elected since 1998, were condemned for corruption. Some were released, and others are in prison, as is the case of ex-governor Sérgio Cabral, who currently faces 10 criminal cases and could be sentenced to up to 300 years in prison. Governor Wilson Witzel, of whom we will speak more specifically in this text, was elected in 2018. For allegations of corruption, he was first removed from his duties as governor (so that he could not interfere with investigations in August 2020), and then impeached definitively in April