DANIEL HAAKSMAN

03/07/2025

After their acclaimed debut release „Aguacerito Llové“, with radio airplay by (Worldwide FM), (BBC6) and amongst others, Berlin choir .diaspora returns with a hot remix by yours truly.

Only using the main vocal hook, I spliced the remaining voices and scattered them loosely over the track, adding a flute melody and heavy bass. In a second moment, I knocked out a dembow ryhthm over the call and response part. All combined, “Aguacerito Llové” turned into a tropical banger, reflecting the powerful energy that arises when Canto Diáspora sing live together.

Out now on and available on all platforms, buy it on our Bandcamp page, link in bio!

01/07/2025

Big up Jamz Supernova for playing Canto Diáspora´s "Aguacerito Llové" in your show on BBC Radio 6 Music!

27/06/2025

Episode #6 in the series is my debut EP „Who’s Afraid Of Rio?“, released in 2008.

After releasing various compilations and producing a couple of remixes, in 2008 I felt that it was time to release some music myself. I had been to Rio numerous times recording funk MCs for the Funk Mundial series, when I realised, I could give it a try myself. After all, producing music wasn´t so hard and while I was visiting Rio twice a year, I was at the source. Through mutual friend in Berlin, DJ and producer Jesse Rose, I met the then unknown young producer Oliver Dollar, with whom I worked on a first set of beats. The results were really exciting, as Oliver came from a house background and we fused funk tracks with house beats, as can be heard in „Senta Senta“ on the „Who´s Afraid Of Rio?“ EP.

Techno and house were still ruling the clubs in Berlin in pre-Berghain days, in particular in spring 2008 when a track by Claude Von Stroke, „Who´s Afraid Of Detroit?“ was all the rage. I thought: Why not shift the focus from the ever present Detroit and counter with the question „Who´s Afraid Of Rio?“, meaning: Why the hell was no one getting what kind of revolutionary music was happening in Rio and why were Berlin DJs afraid of playing music that would not relate to the ever enduring legacy of Detroit? So when in Rio, I went to the studio with MC Jennifer and asked her to MC over some beats that I had made in Berlin. I asked her how she perceived the Rio x Berlin connection, coming from the favela Jacarepaguá. Her answer is to be found in „Who´s Afraid Of Rio?“: „Você vai sacudir, pega o avião e vem vem pra cá, curtir Rio de Janeiro só pra você sacudir.“ (You’re going to shake it up, get on a plane and come here, enjoy Rio de Janeiro just so you can shake it up).

The cover artwork of the single, shot by then unknown French photographer - now considered the world’s major baile funk photographer - shows a funk party at the Bocqueirão, a gymnasium next to Rio´s Santos Dumont airport.

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23/06/2025

Episode #5 in the series is „Funk Do Iphone“ by ft. aka Marina Gasolina.

In the mid to late 2000s, baile funk had gone mainstream in Brasil. From around 2003-2005, Rio de Janeiro’s white middle class began to celebrate baile funk as a cultural phenomenon - initially ironically, then increasingly seriously. With artists like Tati Quebra Barraco, Bonde do Tigrão and later MCs Leozinho and Marcinho, funk became a bit more “pop-friendly” and started to be played on radios and at university parties. The international praise of foreign productions featuring baile funk, i.e. my compilation, „Rio Baile Funk Favela B***y Beats“ (2004) and Diplo´s „Favela On Blast“ mixtapes were noticed in Brasil and former funk critics changed their minds, when realisting gr**gos were lovingfunk music, which, by and large, was still considered “noise” and socially unacceptable by the majority of Brasilians. But funk became more accepted, when white, middle-class artists such as De Falla (already in the early 2000s), Bonde Do Rôle from the mid 2000s onwards, as well as the carioca artist João Brasil, who pioneered funk as a serious form of international compatible Brasilian pop music, became internationally representants of funk, touring around the globe.

João Brasil´s „Funk Do Iphone“ from 2011 was one of those baile funk pop-tunes that were adressing a different, international audience than original funk tracks from the favelas. His song about the technological miracles that the first generation of Iphones created upon the mobile phone´s release, with its trademark marimba ringtone, were sung by former Bonde Do Rôle singer Marina Gasolina. „Funk Do Iphone“ became a small international underground hit, even receiveing a tecno brega remix by legendary (and omnious) DJ Cremoso.

Model :

21/06/2025

Hello, summer!

16/06/2025

Episode #4 in the series is the Funk Mundial series.

I conceived the series in 2006 after realising that when playing DJ sets in Europe, it needed tracks to bridge original baile funk tunes with more electronic (and better sounding) club tracks from Europe. So I thought: Why not create productions in which vocal talent from Brasil teams up together with producers from Europe? Also I thought, baile funk has the potential to become a global phenomenon, so why not call the series „Funk Mundial“ („worldwide funk“ in Portuguese) and put funk in various other local genres from around the world?

One of the most notable releases in the series is #4 by London producer Seiji, formerly part of Bugz In The Attic and then producer of FKA Twigs as well as Roisin Murphy. For „Todo Mundo“ Seiji teamed up in 2007 with baile funk legend MC Dolores to create a minimalist broken beat tune that is still fresh today, in which Dolores reflects on the musical relationships between Brasil and Germany. „Todo Mundo“ vai dancar indeed!

Other Funk Mundial collaborations included 2007 the then unknown duo Crookers from Italy, who a year later, would launch the career of Kid Cudi with their bootleg remix of „Day + Night“. Other volumes were produced by Feadz from Paris, Riva Starr from London, Jesse Rose + Oliver Dollar, Stereotyp from Vienna amongst others, all marked by club beats from Europe accompanied by baile funk vocals.

The Funk Mundial series also had an impact in Brasil where, in 2007, Rio funk was still largely considered trash music. Hermano Viana, the author of the first academic book on baile funk, „O Mundo Funk Carioca“, and one of Brasil´s leading music journalists, was so impressed by the series and the foreign, gr**go apprecation of funk, that he curated a „Funk Mundial“ stage at Rio´s Tim Festival in 2007 (see photo), where I played together with Sinden and Diplo back to back with DJ Sandrinho, MC Gr**go and DJ Marlboro.



1.Funk Mundial in Rocinha, January 2025
2.Funk Mundial stage at Tim Festival in Rio, 2007
3.Funk Mundial compilation
4.Funk Mundial colored vinyls

06/06/2025

Today, I´m very pleased to present you the debut release of Canto Diaspora , which I produced. The Berlin based choir, consisting of forty female singers from Latin America, is led by singer Carolina Riaño, who has brought the folkore classic “Aguacerito Llové” (literally: “Little Rain Shower”) into a new format.

“Aguacerito Llové” sounds lyrical and poetic - like something that could be written in a novel by García Márquez or whispered in a verse by Pablo Neruda. It is magical realism in musical form.
In Carolina Riaño's arrangement, “Aguacerito Llové” becomes a song about collectivity, reflecting the powerful energy that arises when Canto Diáspora sings live together.

“Yo no canto por cantar ni por tener buena voz, canto porque no estoy sola y así se siente mejor.” (“I don't sing for the sake of singing or to have a good voice, I sing because I'm not alone and so it feels better”).

It is also about the transformative, sometimes melancholy experience of living away from home and settling into a new culture:

“Yo no sé si fue el destino el que me trajo hasta aquí , habitando mis dos mundos, resguardando la raíz.”
(“I don't know if it was fate that brought me here, inhabiting my two worlds, protecting the root”).

The song is an integral part of popular culture in Latin America and has been sung by generations of artists. “Aguacerito Llové” is associated with Afro-Latin American musical traditions, especially in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean. These regions have a rich history of African influence through the transatlantic slave trade, and their music reflects the resilience, spirituality and emotional depth of these communities.
In Canto Diáspora's version, “Aguacerito Llové” becomes an empowering sound and cultural bridge builder.

It´s out now on Man Recordings! Early DJ support from Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6), Tash LC amongst others.

Stream it, download it from here:

Geben Sie Ihren Lieblings-Musik-Service ein

26/05/2025

Episode #3 in the is MC Gr**go´s „Gringão“ album, which was released in 2007.

MC Gr**go was a rapper from the Swabian capital Stuttgart (in the South of Germany) who, in 2007, became the first Non-Brazilian to perform funk songs live on Brazilian national TV. On Youtube, there´s performances of Gr**go at the famous shows of Gilberto Braga as wel as Calderão Do Huck. During a time when „exotic“ characters were all the rage in funk (e.g.the first trans MCs Mulher Banana as well as MC Serginho and MC Lacraia , or the child MC Jonathan ). MC Gr**go represented the foreigner in this funk trend. However, Gr**go wasn´t only considered exotic, but baile funk #1 MC of the Tamborzão period, the mighty Mr. Catra, praised MC Gr**go´s skills (and balls) to perform in front of the highly critical favela audience in his trademark Swabian-German-Portuguese. Mr Catra oftern invited him often to perform with him together at numerous bailes, which even led to the later Mr.Catra claim circulating on Instagram today, that funk originated with Kraftwerk in Stuttgart (which it didn´t).

The MC Gr**go album, produced by the late DJ Amazing Clay, was a small sensation upon its release also in Germany, the story of the Swabian rapper having success in the favelas in Rio raised many eyebrows at that time in German media. The single „Alemão“ reflected on the double meaning of the word, which means both „German“ as well as „enemy“ in Portuguese. Two singles were released soon after the album came out, with remixes by the then largely unknown Toddla T as well as 90s rap icons Stereo MCs (who were huge MC Gr**go fans). Today, MC Gr**go commutes between Berlin and Rio De Janeiro and is still active in music but is pursuing a career in Forro and its rawer version, „Piseiro“, thus calling himself **go_do_forro.

**go

Gallery

1.MC Gr**go cover shot at Morro Dos Cabritos, Rio De Janeiro
2.MC Gr**go live on Brazilian TV 2007
3. MC Gr**go + Diplo in Rio 2007
4. Clipping about MC Gr**go in Stuttgarter Zeitung, 2006

14/05/2025

#2 in the series is Baile Funk Masters

The series started in 2006 and I conceived it as a platform for the baile funk DJs who often wouldn´t receive any credit for the amazing beat productions that would be the base for many funk tracks. I gave the series the name „Masters“ based on the term which is particularly widespread in european classical music. For me it was masterful how the funk producers from Rio built the most advanced beats with only a very limited number of samples and the most minimalist gear. When the series started, funk producers only worked with MPCs because DAWs and laptops were prohibitively expensive at the time. The result was nevertheless impressive.

The Baile Funk Masters series was released on vinyl and in digital format in four episodes: #1 was by , #2 by , #3 by and finally #4 by Amazing Clay. All DJs had been on the funk circuit for many years at that time and had produced beats for numerous Baile Funk hits. Both DJ Edgar and DJ Sandrinho had long been the DJs of Baile Funk MC legend Mr.Catra, DJ Amazing Clay was part of Curtisom Rio, one of the oldest funk sound systems from Rio.

DJ Edgar (✝2018) and DJ Amazing Clay (✝2011) sadly passed away in the meantime, but their spirit and music lives on in their Baile Funk Masters releases.

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06/05/2025

the 20th anniversary of my label Man Recordings! The label´s first release, the CD only compilation „Não Wave, Brazilian Post Punk 1982-1988“ (Man 01) came out on 6th of June 2004. So it´s our golden anniversary soon! To give a small retrosprect of twenty years of my label, over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at some of the most important releases, their genesis, anecdotes surrounding the release and their significance today.

#1 in the series is Edu K´s „Popozuda Rock n´Roll“ single. Originally released on the album „Miami Rock 2000“ on Sony Music Brasil with his band De Falla in 2000, I heard „Popozuda“ the first time in Rio in 2003 on my research trip which later would birth the genre defining „Rio Baile Funk Favela B***y Beats“ compilation. After the compilation´s release and ensuing critical international acclaim, I tracked down Edu in Porto Alegre via Andy Cu***ng and asked whether Edu would re-record „Popozuda Rock n´Roll“ for a Man Recordings re-release, together with some remixes. Communication with Edu was easy as he had lived in Miami for a couple of years, so he was fluent in English – much to the contrary to Rio´s funkeiros, of whom no one spoke English which made communication for me as a non Portuguese speaker in the pre-smart phone area difficult. Edu soon sent his re-recording of „Popozuda“ and it sounded almost exactly like the original track for Sony Music, but this time, stems were available. For the lead remix of „Popozuda“ I picked a then relatively unknown producer named Diplo , who I knew as a Ninja Tune artist and the DJ behind a mixtape named „Favela On Blast“ . It was the first remix Diplo did for an international label. He sent in a version sampling The Cure, which soon became a club hit at a time when mashups were all the rage on European and North American underground dancefloors. Additionally, there are remixes by Rio funkeiro DJ Sandrinho and a reggaeton remix by Edu K himself – quite likely the first reggaeton remix of a baile funk track ever made.

21/04/2025

My edit for Super Mama Djombo, now a milli on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/54ac3NA7Eu6q4FHHBR2CDj?si=07f22a5f56484223

17/04/2025

Brasilian vinyl forever!