XÃO Productions is a production company and Independent label based in New York City and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil led by DJ Comrade, Chaach and Kokos Kypros. By fusing the Carioca Style of Live Mpc Baile Funk with Samba, Reggae, Hip Hop, Booty Bass, Electro, House & Crunk elements, XÃO Productions has been able to capture fans of various musical genres all from over the world. XÃO's first collaboration in Rio de Janeiro led to the opening of the International "Tim Festival" in 2007.
In 2008 XÃO launched their first Mixtape titled- "ANIVERSARIO MIX V.1" -which Included "International Style", Ft. Rio de Janeiro's Mc Gus & Mc Maiquinho, as well as "Brooklyn Ghetto Fabulosa" Ft. New York City's Zuzuka Poderosa and 77Klash.
Both tracks were later featured In the Documentary film titled "Beyond Ipanema: Brazilian Waves in Global Music" -which made its international debut at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City in July 2009.
Their first Official Baile Funk Remix Titled "Sunglasses (Keep Your Shades On) Ft. Bruck Up & Shaggy" has recently hit iTunes and Online music stores world-wide.
"Music to us is the binding force which unifies the international community"
Congratulations on the release! Is it only as a digital release or can we expect cool guerilla strategies to increase promotion?
This one is digital only release, but there'll be some dual digital / vinyl coming up on future X.P. releases.
You took Rio de Janeiro back to NYC. How do the Yankees deal with a genre like Baile Funk?
Baile Funk is not unheard of, but its still new to most New Yorkers. The good thing about New York is its diversity. People here are pretty open minded to new interesting music styles and performances. For the most part the 1st reaction is always the same wherever you go outside of Rio de Janeiro. People stop to listen and catch up to the 130 bpm tempo not knowing how exactly to dance to it, but soon after the music takes control and its wall to wall asses breakin as the command XÃO XÃO XÃO (to the ground) rips through the club. Tamborzao beats sounding off Live from the Mpc Performance.. Not to mention the sexy XÃO Go Go Twins who always get the crowd goin wild. Its an amazing 1st experience no matter where you come from and it stays with you long after your Nyc subway or taxi ride home from the club.
On what group do you target your movement?
XÃO is without a doubt a NYC- Rio targeted Production, but our focus is open and extends world wide. We always seek out new styles and artists from all over the world to collaborate with and implement as much culture and authenticity into our original productions and remixes so that it appeals to the masses regardless of whether you're into hip hop, reggae, electro, booty bass, house or whatever it is your into. All of our XÃO Fam from NYC to Rio have a wide range of musical backgrounds and we all bring it to the production table when were writing new tracks. Its because of this that our music gets exposed to a broader and more international audience.
What can we expect coming to an event you XÃO organized?
Ha,There are some youtube vids out there.. XÃO Productions! check em out!
And as that Baile sample says..."Prepare seu corpo, Prepare sua mente"
("prepare your body, prepare your mind")
You guys are from the generation that uses internet as a dominant instrument to reach out to your listeners and followers. Is that paying off?
For sure. What better medium for International Funk? People around the world are able the listen, buy or otherwise be exposed to you sound the moment you upload a track.
With music so freely available online, do you think it's still possible to make a decent profit out of music?
Depends. On straight sales; probably not right away. But there's multiple ways to increase revenue with music nowadays, synchronization being one of them. If you land a track in a TV show or commercial, skies the limit.
What is 'music' to XÃO? (the actual record, performance, social bonding perhaps?)
Music to us is the binding force which unifies the international community; it's the 'News or Current Events of the day; in its rawest form, it's the pulse of the people. It's our life... we live for it.
Any plans for the future to branch out to other disciplines of creativity to maximize the spread of XÃO products?
Of course. Be on the look-out for our Video/Audio mixtapes including live performances which push the envelope of the standard 'mixtape'; Be on the look-out for some dope iPone Applications; and overall, X.P. will be expanding its role from just a 'indie-label' to a full-service media company for all Funkeiros!!
Are we on the guestlist?
Haha...Fuck yea! And bring your friends too! We getting Derteee tonight!
You can Follow XÃO Parties & New Releases Here!
- www.XÃOproductions.com
- www.myspace.com/XÃOproductions
- www.twitter.com/bailefunk
