Global ghetto funk

The face of music is changing irrevocably, thanks to the rise of the internet. We've all heard the fire and brimstone patter about how the download revolution has signaled the death of music commerce as we know it, and much has also been made of the new possibilities for promotion and distribution the web offers, but we're still yet to see a whole musical scene or genre that stems purely from this brave new world. Until now. Introducing Global Ghetto Funk....

Global ghetto funk is the (admittedly rather clumsy) name being bandied around the blogosphere to describe the network of disparately located urban musicians that have united across the web under the common cause of making people move their bottoms. After meeting across Myspace, these guys have started a cross-pollination process; remixing and collaborating on each others' tracks, fusing influences from Brazil, Britain, Angola, America, and France, amongst others.

The activity wasn't reserved to just virtual realms either, after the web hype got chins a-wagging in the respective home countries, the groundwork had been laid for all the artists to pay their new keyboard pals (the new pen pals) visits, and showcase their styles in a live setting.

The man that kick-started the scene was Wesley Pentz, aka globetrotting booty music aficionado Diplo. And it was his Myspace A&R work that set the ball rolling and opened lines of communication between the likes of Brazilian baile funkers Bonde Do Role, Angolan kuduro kids Buraka Som Sistema, Baltimore clubbers like Aaron La Crate, and European producers like Radioclit and TTC, to name just a few. Blossoming international careers were quickly established for artists that would have never dreamt of even recording a proper album before, as the global ghetto funk spirit ignited collective imaginations.

Diplo The man that started it all, Philadelphia-born and raised, Diplo has come to embody the culture-vulture ethic of global ghetto funk. He travels the world, snooping out new talent, and collecting samples for his inter-continental collage productions. He runs his own label Mad Decent who first signed Bonde Do Role, as well Australia's Heaps Decent and Baltimore's bassline remix extraordinaire DJ Blaqstarr. He has produced the likes of MIA, Bonde Do Role, Spankrock, TTC and more.

Bonde Do Role The biggest global ghetto funk success story, 18 months -ago this trio from Curitiba, Brazil hadn't even performed live. After the Diplo plucked them out of obscurity they wowed audiences across the world, before signing a massive record deal with Domino (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand), releasing their debut album Bonde Do Role With Lazers and found their baile funk pop hybrid soundtracking a selection of major TV shows and adverts.

Buraka Som Sistema A five-piece troupe, from Angola and Portugal, the group rose in notoriety after building associations with a variety of groups and individuals, including Diplo, Radioclit and Bonde Do Role. They're the first act purveying kuduro - a new form of Angolan dance music fusing techno and dancehall - to gain international recognition and have recently signed to trendy electro label Modular.

Radioclit The London-based production duo - Frenchman Etienne and Swede Johan - are the main European representatives of global ghetto funk. Their remixes for the likes of Bonde Do Role, Diplo and production collaborations with MIA, TTC and grime artists like Trim and Ears have seen them rise as producers-of-the-moment, with a distinctly global sound that includes beats and samples from all over the world.

B'more Gutter Music Baltimore has a rich heritage of its own distinct brand of breakbeat club music. Over the past couple of years the glories of yesteryear have been resurrected by DJ Aaron La Crate, along with cohorts Spankrock and Amanda Blank under the B'More Gutter Music banner. Relations with Diplo, Radioclit and others have fed numerous collaborations back into the global ghetto funk production pool.

MIA Before ghetto funk went global, MC and producer MIA was working alongside her then boyfriend and producer Diplo on a musical manifesto that hinted at the trans-continental activity to come. Her debut album Arular acted as the precursor to the scene, and subsequently she's been crowned the queen of it. She's collaborated with most GGF luminaries, and her new album Kala showcases a staggeringly wide selection of world styles.