The Rise of the Rest...American Influence on Funk

In Fareed Zakaria's Newsweek article "The Rise of the Rest", he argues that the expansion of non-western industries and institutions have dwarfed the once-gigantic influence of the West. Zakaria views the West as a faded star. With the end of the "Pax Americana", a time period when the United States seemed to dominate in every aspect of the world-scene, the good old U.S.A. has slipped away from its former greatness. Zakaria's goes on to state that one of the effects of the American power-supernova is that in the explosion decimating the former prestige of our nation, we have invigorated the globe. New countries are bettering themselves at an alarming rate, more or less by imitating the shape and manner of the West. How, you might ask, could Brazil possibly take popular western structures and manipulate them to enhance their society? Funk is the answer! As Western ideas streak across the globe, Brazilian favelados have learned from American gangsta rappers that the voice of the slums can be recorded and sold to a willing and immense audience. Funk was born from the womb of American hip-hop, and the core ideology is the same: speak on your surroundings. They have adopted this American concept and Rocinha has become the new Compton. The fading of the West has, among other things (namely Western economic and political practices), brought Brazil a new method and forum for the poor to have their voice be heard...Funk.