Leo Justi's "Heavy Baile" Mixtape is Some Intercontinental Mindwarp

Our THUMP squad in Brazil is always on point with their recommendations, but nothing could have prepared us for the turnt up international bout of rowdiness coming our way when they turned us on to Waxploitation-affiliated Leo Justi. Homie's already a big deal down south (like way south), and his Heavy Baile mixtape is about to drop, showing the world what's going down in the world of favela funk.

We've got the exclusive on the first track and we got some education from Justi about what's going on down in Brazil. "Baile Funk, favela made funk, just owns Rio." he tells THUMP. "That's what gets any crowd wild, more than anything else. What I do is get a lot from that raw energy and then make it more sophisticated."

This release, in pure mixtape fashion, is a melange of bootlegs, originals, and remixes. Leo explains how he treated this track in particular: "The first part mostly keeps the original vibe, I basically made it sound better. These favela producers have banging ideas but sometimes it sounds terrible," he laughs. "Then i walk into a clubbier thing, more into what i put as Heavy Baile."

It turns out Justi's in the US at the moment. "I came to New York for a while to get inspired again by what got me into dance music in the first place, dancehall, rap, baltimore club, philly club. Living in Brazil i end up so captivated by funk that I end up disconnecting a little to the styles that work better here. This mixtape shows a lot of this brazilian side, but I'm curious to see how the rest of the world will feel it.

Leo Justi on FB // Twitter
Leo on Waxploitation

More from our friends down south:
Sany Pitbull Unearthed this Insane Mix of 90s Baile Funk
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Come for the House Music, Stay for the Sunrise: 10 Days at Mexico's BPM Festival

Reach out to the writer - @JemayelK