Mikezin

Mikezin came out of São Paulo in the 1990s, a group of friends including MC Mike and DJ Big Mike who started making their own version of funk. They mixed in bits of hip-hop and electronic sounds, but kept the core rhythms of Brazilian funk carioca. Their track 'Suco de Fruta' from 2002 caught on quickly, with a simple, catchy groove that got people moving.

That song helped define their early sound, direct, energetic, and made for dancing. Later tracks like 'Rock Lee' and 'Existe Amor Em SP' showed they could work with different collaborators and moods while staying rooted in that São Paulo funk feel. Their music wasn't trying to be polished; it had the rough, immediate quality of the streets where it started.

At times, their lyrics and videos drew criticism from more conservative corners, and there was a legal dispute over the band name in the early 2000s. But through albums like 'Favela' and 'Funk Brasil,' they kept putting out music that felt close to the ground, less about grand statements than about rhythm and place.