Funk carioca started in the 1990s. Young musicians in Rio took drum machines and sampled the rhythms they liked, then sped them up and added Portuguese lyrics on top. Because so much of it was created in Rio (people from Rio are called 'cariocas'), it got the name 'funk carioca'.
The beat is instantly recognisable: a big kick drum on the first beat, a snappy snare, and a tambourine sound underneath. Once you've heard it, you can pick out a funk carioca song from across a noisy room. Brazilian sports teams sometimes use the beat as a stadium chant.
Funk carioca dances are full of energy. Kids invent new moves all the time and post them online. Some moves spread across Brazil so fast that within a week every school playground is doing the same dance.
These days, funk carioca artists work with pop stars from all around the world. The beat has shown up on songs in dozens of languages. But almost every funk carioca producer still records in studios in Rio - the city where the sound was born.
