Badsista and the new Brazilian sound

Badsista is a DJ and producer who stands at the forefront of musical innovation in his country. A pioneer in merging genres such as house, bass music and baile funk, Badsista represents a new sound identity from peripheral communities that has been lighting up dance floors in Brazil and abroad.

An exponent of the LGBTQIA+ community, Badsista excites and inspires queer party-goers across Brazil. With his energetic and diverse sound, the artist has established himself as a key reference in the country’s underground scene. From the Itaquera district in São Paulo to the world, Badsista has toured Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. His dates include European festivals such as Horst, Dekmantel and Primavera Sound, festivals in Latin America like DGTL Santiago and Tomorrowland Brasil, clubs in Asia such as Circus (Tokyo) and Zhao Dai (Beijing) and events such as Boiler Room in Johannesburg.

His original material ventures into several genres, including house, bass music, hip hop, funk, reggae and techno. This range can be heard both in singles on Bandcamp and on acclaimed debut album Gueto Elegance, from 2021. His talent in the studio is recognized both at home and abroad. In 2023, the British edition of Mixmag magazine listed him among the producers who “defined the year”. His studio productions for other artists demonstrate an ability to work with a diversity of musical partners: his collaborations include projects with names such as Jup do Bairro, Jaloo, Linn da Quebrada, Pitty and Kelela. On stage, partnerships include live presentations with iconic artists like Brazilian singer Marina Lima and German DJ Ellen Allien.

For Badsista, his DJing and productions complement each other in several ways. “I produce things especially for my sets, to be tested on the dance floor,” he explains. “I really like to dig for music or produce tracks when I’m on the move, on a flight, at the airport or in an Uber.” Despite spending a lot of time producing alone, Badsista says he loves “working with other people when things flow, when there is more commitment to the process than to the result.” Badsista’s career was built with relentless dedication and a sharp ear.

As he told a Brazilian newspaper in 2021, the songs he made in the music production course with cheap headphones already sounded better than those of colleagues with access to expensive equipment. Thanks to the pioneering work of artists like Badsista, alongside Cashu and RHR, the cross between electronic music of global circulation and the beats coming out of the Brazilian favelas has gained strength.

It is a moment of worldwide projection for local electronic music, comparable to when DJs Marky and Patife exported a strand of drum’n’bass that amalgamated with Brazilian sounds in the 2000s. “We made this great melting pot of things and references. It could only have been created by people who live here, who live what we live”, concludes Badsista.