Local Expert
Lucy Bryson
I was born in rainy Manchester, UK, but made my escape to sunny Rio de Janeiro in 2006. Since then it's been hard to keep me away from the city, although I've also travelled elsewhere in Brazil and…
I was born in rainy Manchester, UK, but made my escape to sunny Rio de Janeiro in 2006. Since then it's been hard to keep me away from the city, although I've also travelled elsewhere in Brazil and South America. I'm a trained journalist and editor and have managed to fund my trips through combining my twin passions of travelling and writing - recent writing credits include updating chapters for Fodor's Brazil, Footprint Brazil and Footprint South American Handbook. I live high on a hillside in Santa Teresa - Rio's 'arty' district, and my one complaint is that I never seem to get time to visit the beach! Despite my lack of tanning time, I love Rio, and and have no intentions of returning to my wet and windy home city any time soon!
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Ja Breaks the Rules
Hats off to US hip hop star Ja Rule for breaking with established tradition when he played in Rio earlier this month. While it’s not unusual for interrnational artists to play concerts in the city, Ja Rule went where many stars would fear to tread – playing live in Rocinha, the largest of Brazil’s notorious favelas.
The blinged-up hip hopper took to the stage at Rocinha’s Arena do S, heading a bill that was almost entirely dominated by DJs from the local baile funk scene. It certainly made for an unusual sight – hordes of ‘playboys’ (rich young carioca males) and ‘patricinhas’ (rich young carioca girls), heading up into the very neighbourhood that they have traditionally both feared and scorned.
That the event could be held here at all is a sign of how far Rocinha has come in recent years, and the fact that the night passed succesfully – without noteworthy violence or conflict – is a further sign that Rocinha is gradually being integrated into wider Rio society.
As well as being sold online, tickets for the event were on sale at points in Rocinha as well as middle-class Botafogo and upmarket Ipanema, Barra and Leblon, making for an interesting mix of party-goers.
The venue itself is hardly sub-standard though – the vast modern building is a far cry from the warehouses that house ‘funk balls’ at venues across Rio, and with a VIP lounge, state of the art sound system and bars selling expensive cocktails, it was easy to forget you were in one of the world’s largest slums!