Why Are São Paulo Funk Stars Starting Their Own Labels?
Will Lisil
On 19 October, MC Hariel, one of the best-known voices in São Paulo funk, announced that he is ending his professional partnership with GR6, the production company he joined in 2014, Billboard Brasil reported. A month earlier, MC Don Juan opened a new phase for Restrito, the record label he founded, bringing in partners to help him find and develop new artists.
Two of the scene's most recognisable MCs are building their own structures at the same moment their music is travelling further than ever. Brazilian funk is one of the fastest-growing genres on Spotify, and the bass-heavy sound of São Paulo's street parties now turns up in DJ sets around the world. Here is what is changing, what the music sounds like, and where a new listener can start.
A 12-Year Chapter Closes With a Farewell EP
To mark the end of his time with GR6, Hariel is preparing an EP called Aplausos Não Pagam As Contas, which translates as "applause doesn't pay the bills". It will be his final release with the company, and it features MC Lkzin and Gblack, two younger artists from the GR6 roster. Billboard Brasil read the guest list as a link between Hariel's farewell and the new generation of funk paulista, the São Paulo strand of the genre. The release date and full track list have not been announced yet.
Hariel is not stepping into the unknown. His career is now managed by Zaori, a cultural production company he created in 2025, and his records will keep coming out through Xaolin Records, the label he founded. In November 2025, Xaolin signed a distribution deal with Warner Music Brasil aimed at growing the label and supporting new independent artists. At the time, Billboard Brasil reported that Hariel had passed 4.3 billion audio streams and had close to 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
In a statement quoted by the magazine, he thanked the company that launched him. "I am very grateful to GR6. That is where my life really started to change, where I managed to make dreams come true, help my family and watch the plans of the kid from Vila Aurora grow," he said, adding that he moves on "with a lot of hope, work and the will to keep funk moving, always with truth and opening space for our people."
His GR6 years produced songs such as "Lei do Retorno" with MC Don Juan and "Maçã Verde" with Caio Passos. In August 2024 he released the album Funk Superação, which brought in Gilberto Gil, IZA, Péricles and Ice Blue. "A Dança", his track with Gilberto Gil, earned a 2025 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Portuguese Language Urban Performance. He took the project to the Palco Favela stage at Rock in Rio in 2024, and in 2026 he carried funk into a symphonic show developed with conductor Xuxa Levy.
MC Don Juan Wants to Sign the Next Wave
MC Don Juan knows the road from a first recording to a song sung by crowds. At 25, with more than a decade of career behind him, he now wants to work on the other side of that road as well. In September, Billboard Brasil reported that Restrito had brought in Grupo Sua Música and Powerhouse Music Group as partners, with Don Juan at the centre of the creative operation: discovering artists and producers, choosing songs and developing releases.
"There are a lot of talented people waiting for a chance to show what they can do," he told the magazine. "I want to be close to that process: listening, going into the studio, thinking about the repertoire and helping to build the path. Restrito is my bet on whoever comes next and on what we can create together."
The partners bring different strengths. Grupo Sua Música started in 2010 as a website in João Pessoa where forró artists could share their recordings, and today runs a digital distributor, an artist production company and a music publisher. Powerhouse Music Group adds experience with catalogues, rights management and investors.
The first release of the new phase is a crowd of voices. "Não Sei Porque Eu Acreditei" brings together Aaron Modesto, MC Don Juan, MC Ryan SP, MC Meno K and MC Alan Jr, with MC Fidelis, B MC, MC Dena, MC DR, Gaab MC and DJ Guh Mix also on the track. According to Billboard Brasil, the line-up adds up to more than 95.7 million monthly listeners.
Building your own platform is an old habit here. São Paulo's funk generation grew up distributing its music online, through channels such as KondZilla, which had 67.6 million subscribers when NOTION profiled the city's nightlife in March 2025.
What São Paulo Funk Sounds Like Up Close
Baile funk took shape in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s, blending Miami bass, electro, hip-hop and Latin freestyle into the party music of Brazil's working-class neighbourhoods. São Paulo took that foundation somewhere harder and stranger.
The defining São Paulo style is mandelão. The Sound Atlas describes it as funk "engineered at the scale of a street sound system", shaped in the bailes and fluxos of São Paulo state in the late 2010s. Expect hard four-on-the-floor kicks, overdriven bass, metallic percussion and short loops that gain power every time they come round, usually somewhere between 120 and 140 BPM. NOTION likened its repetitive lyrics to the feeling of being at a Corinthians football match. The name is commonly linked to Baile do Mandela, a party in the coastal city of Praia Grande.
Around mandelão sits a family of related styles. Bruxaria, Portuguese for witchcraft, is the darkest, with screeching synths and horror-film samples. Ritmado is another offshoot of the same sound. Funk ostentação is the flex, with MCs rapping about cars, jewellery and the ambition to make it out. Many tracks first circulate as montagens or automotivos, looped DJ sequences built to raise the pressure through repetition, which is why so much of the music sounds made for car speakers.
Outside Brazil, mandelão is sometimes relabelled as "Brazilian phonk". The Sound Atlas makes a fair point about that tag: it helps people find the music, but the history and the language belong to funk and to São Paulo's baile culture.
The DJs Carrying the Sound Abroad
DJ Blakes started out mixing for sound systems at local street parties and is now an internationally touring artist. "My style used to be marginalised but now reaches thousands of listeners," he told NOTION. "It went from being a genre for favela dances to being played all over the world. Taking our music to other places has helped it expand and evolve." His 2024 Boiler Room set, played between two towering sound systems, jumps from whistles and steel drums to house rhythms and booming 808s.
DJ K, a producer from Heliópolis and a leading figure in bruxaria, has released music on Nyege Nyege Tapes, a label based in Uganda. In 2024 the London station NTS Radio gave the scene a proper introduction with funk.BR, a 22-track compilation dedicated to São Paulo. Resident Advisor reported that it was compiled by Jonathan Kim and Felipe Maia and features DJ Blakes, Deekapz, DJ K, MU540, MC GW and more.
"We have so many artists with substance and musicality who were ignored for a long time," SIXX4SIXX, head of the label Tijolo Records, told NOTION. "At some point, it was bound to erupt and now that's happening."
Why the World Is Listening Now
The numbers back him up. Spotify's Loud & Clear report, published in March, listed Brazilian funk among the fastest-growing genres on the platform: among genres generating more than $50 million in Spotify royalties in 2025, Brazilian funk grew 36%, ahead of K-pop at 31%. The same report found that, on average, artists see more than half of their royalties coming from outside their home country within two years of debuting.
The subject came up again in Miami Beach on 19 October, the opening day of Billboard Latin Music Week. A panel called Brazil on the Rise, presented by Believe, put funk MC Kako on stage with Diego Douetts, co-founder of the label Sonar Music, Believe's Alejandra Olea and TuneCore's Bruno Duque. The figures shared there put the growth of Brazil's music market at 14.1% over the past year, with listening to Brazilian artists on Spotify up 24% and funk up 36%.
Kako spoke for a lot of his peers. "I have been building my career in Brazil for several years, and it hasn't been easy," he said. "So today, when I see my music reaching people in other countries, it's incredible, especially because it's funk, a very special rhythm because it comes from a very real place." He added: "We sing what we live, what we believe in, our struggles. And even when people don't understand what we're saying on some tracks, they feel the rhythm, they feel the vibe of our songs."
The panellists named collaboration between artists, independent entrepreneurship and digital distribution as the engines behind Brazil's growth, which is exactly the toolkit Hariel and Don Juan are now building for themselves.
Where to Start Listening
If São Paulo funk is new to you, these tracks, all listed by The Sound Atlas among the defining works of mandelão, make a strong first playlist:
- "A Culpa Eh da Cachaça" by MU540 and MC GW
- "As Mais Top" by MC Bibi Drak and DJ Dayeh
- "Beat das Galáxias" by DJ Blakes, MC GW and DJ Novaes
- "Montagem Phonk Brasileiro" by DJ Arana
- "Ritmado Mágico no Sumarézinho" by Deekapz
- "Me Viu no Fluxo ZS" by DJ K, DJ Knote Original and a crew of MCs
For the MC side of the scene, start with Hariel's "A Dança" with Gilberto Gil, then work through the NTS compilation for a 22-track tour of the city. And if you enjoy hearing how a local street sound finds a global audience, our story on how UK garage went from pirate radio to TikTok's UK Song of the Summer traces a similar journey.
A Scene Writing Its Own Rules
What links Hariel's farewell EP, Don Juan's label and Kako's trip to Miami is ownership. The MCs and DJs who built São Paulo funk on street sound systems and online channels now want a say in the business that carries their music, and they are using that position to open doors for the artists coming up behind them.
At TipTop.music, we share that instinct. Our view is that independent artists deserve a direct line to the people who love their music, which is why every play on TipTop is a tip to the artist who made the track. If you make music and want to reach new listeners on your own terms, you can start at TipTop for Artists.
For listeners, the invitation is simple. The sound of São Paulo's bailes has never been easier to find, so press play, turn it up and let the bass do the talking.
Frequently asked questions
Why is MC Hariel leaving GR6?
Hariel thanked GR6 for changing his life and said he is moving into a new moment. Billboard Brasil reports that independence had long been a goal: his career is already managed by his own company, Zaori, and his label Xaolin Records releases his music through Warner Music Brasil.
What is mandelão?
Mandelão is a São Paulo style of Brazilian funk built for street sound systems, with hard four-on-the-floor kicks, distorted bass, metallic percussion and repeating loops, usually between 120 and 140 BPM. The name is commonly linked to Baile do Mandela in Praia Grande.
What is funk bruxaria?
Bruxaria, Portuguese for witchcraft, is a darker offshoot of mandelão known for screeching synths and horror-style samples. DJ K, a producer from Heliópolis, is one of its leading figures.
Where should I start listening to São Paulo funk?
The NTS Radio compilation funk.BR, dedicated to São Paulo, is a strong introduction, with DJ Blakes, Deekapz, DJ K, MU540 and MC GW among its 22 tracks. For the MC side, try MC Hariel's "A Dança" with Gilberto Gil.