How Brazilian funk ‘proibidão’ caused controversy in UK politics

Pay attention, the thing is crazy
Lock, you bitch, bouncing, naughty
Sit, bad, bounce, bad
It stops at the end of the bitch and doesn’t stop
Sit, bad, bounce, bad
It stops at the end of the bitch and doesn’t stop
Sit, bad, bounce, bad
It stops at the end of the bitch and doesn’t stop

The video combined the song with images of anthropomorphized animals. Like a bulldog dog dressed as a police officer, a badger in a suit at a train station, a hare dressed as a nurse and an owl in a teacher’s apron. In the captions, the actions to be taken to improve services in these sectors, representing government policies.

The Labor Party deleted the video following criticism, with an apology. Conservative MP Alicia Kearns questioned the use of the song, saying the lyrics “encourage men to drug young people and commit sexual violence”. One of the sections of the song talks about marijuana and sex.

Accusations made by businessman Elon Musk increased the impact of the case. The billionaire accused Starmer of covering up sexual abuse scandals and linked the video episode to alleged government negligence. Starmer denied the allegations, saying they were part of a disinformation campaign, but Musk’s statement intensified political pressure on the government.

DJ Holanda commented on the unexpected episode. Surprised by the repercussion, he stated that the song was not composed with the intention of generating controversy and suggested that just the melody, without the lyrics, would be more appropriate for the political context. The DJ, who has 1.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, told Metro newspaper:

We understand that the use of the full song in a political video may have sparked controversy and that the party has chosen to remove the post. We believe that using just the melody, without the lyrics, would have been a more suitable alternative for this type of content. Either way, we are happy with the reach ‘Montagem Coral’ is having and we hope it continues to reach people around the world.
DJ Netherlands