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“Vai com o bum bum, tam tam” (move that bum bum, tam tam) is the beginning of a popular funk song, the music of the Brazilian favelas. Just a few months ago it was difficult to imagine that this letter would become the unofficial anthem of the coronavirus vaccine in the most denialist country on the Latin American continent.
It all started on January 7, when the Butantán Institute of Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s main scientific research centers, announced the results of the trials with Coronavac, the vaccine imported from China by Governor João Dória, a former ally of the President Jair Bolsonaro and today his main political rival.
After months of clinical trials with about 13,000 volunteers, those responsible for the study made public the long-awaited result: 78% efficiency in mild cases and a resounding 100% in the most severe cases.
Brazil, which for something is considered the world champion of memes, celebrated this news by recovering an old hit by funkeiro MC Fioti, called ‘Bum bum, tam tam’, which in the first nine months after its launch reaped more than 480 million views on YouTube.
This expression refers to the anatomical part most acclaimed by Brazilians: the ‘bum bum’, butt to understand us. “I never thought that ‘Bum Bum Tam Tam’ could have any relationship with the Butantán Institute. Three years after the success with my song, the emergency use of vaccines was approved and many people on social networks began to relate the two things That’s how the music went viral, ‘MC Fioti tells France 24 during a break between two interviews for the most popular television programs in the country.
The phenomenon is unprecedented in Brazil. Taking advantage of the similarity between the phrase ‘Bum Bum Tam Tam’ and the word Butantán, the geniuses of social networks turned to this music to make memes and even some projections in public buildings. The purpose was to thank in a fun way the tireless work of dozens of anonymous researchers, who worked incessantly for months to offer a vaccine to the 212 million Brazilians.
It should be remembered that President Jair Bolsonaro criticized on numerous occasions what he disparagingly called “Chinese vaccine.” And he did it for ideological reasons. The Brazilian president has stated on several occasions that he does not plan to be vaccinated and like his son Eduardo, a deputy in the Chamber and his Foreign Minister, he has repeatedly criticized the Chinese government in its desire to align itself with Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
A song dedicated to the virus vaccine researchers
The enormous repercussion of his music left MC Fioti so shocked, that he decided to record his song again. “I thought: nothing better to congratulate the Butantán workers than to make a special version dedicated to the vaccine,” explains the 26-year-old singer.
The video clip starts with Fioti asking the genie in the lamp two wishes, as he did in the first version of the video. But this time, the artist chooses the cure for the coronavirus and peace, love and health for humanity. Then, we see the funkeiro singing at the Butantán Institute headquarters and dancing with the employees, who wag their ‘boom boom’ with enthusiasm.
“The recording of the video clip happened in a very natural way. Butantán had been marking me for a long time in all its publications. My representatives contacted those responsible for the institute to record in their building. They immediately accepted and everything went well. The institute supported the cause. Governor Dória even called me to congratulate me, “says Fioti.
The image of dozens of scientific researchers unleashed to the rhythm of funk has enormous symbolic value, since traditionally this music has been criminalized by various sectors of society. “The upper class always criticized us. They usually censor everything that comes from the favela, not just funk. The fact that the soundtrack of the vaccination is a funk is a historical landmark,” highlights MC Fioti.
The media journey of ‘Bum bum, tam tam’ is so unpredictable that millions of students from all over Brazil had to analyze the text of this song during the compulsory university entrance exam. The singer from Sao Paulo, who grew up in a popular neighborhood called Capão Redondo, admits that he is proud of having managed to establish a link between funk, science and medicine.
From now on, he assures, his musical production will be more committed to social issues. “For a long time I wanted to change my style. The vaccine clicked in my head. I want to launch awareness projects and also tell a little about my story, the story of the community where I grew up and that of my mother, who raised six children. without help and suffered mistreatment in his own home. The new Fioti is going to be more aware, “reveals this musician, who has already traveled to more than 30 countries with his ‘Bum Bum Tam Tam’. “My song is proof that funk has a lot of power. We are breaking down barriers. I think that from now on many people will start to see our music with different eyes,” he concludes.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/how-a-funk-song-became-the-anthem-of-the-covid-19-vaccine-in-brazil/
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