Samba’s lustier cousin, pagode emerged in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro’s debaucherous late-night revieries during the late ‘70s. The party genre solidified the following decade as an offshoot to the popular and lofty Brazilian folk institution, thanks to groups such as Fundo de Quintal, who experimented with funkier rhythms using the banjo. By the ‘90s, the Rio art form had turned into a full-fledged, funky, irreverent fête, while still keeping samba’s folky breeziness and lively spirit intact. Even widely popular samba singers like Zeca Pagodinho began to dabble with the cheekiness of pagode through his satirical love ballads, and Tropicália mastermind Caetano Veloso helped launch the genre to global recognition. Then, pagode trailblazers such as Os Travessos and Exaltasamba carried it forward with their tongue-in-cheek pop exuberance and refreshingly ironic lyrics, all while maintaining their boy-band gaudiness in true ‘90s fashion.