ABSTRACT
Visiting the Lapa district in Rio de Janeiro means diving into a musical universe where samba is the main protagonist. In different nightclubs, on the streets, on billboards, in cars, and in local imagery, samba is a constant sound that shapes the “scene” of contemporary Lapa (Herschmann 2007; Straw 1991). But its enormous presence in the national imagination crosses the boundaries of this historic district. Samba occupies much of the ambient sound of Brazil— on the soundtracks of telenovelas (soap operas), in advertising, on the stages of all the major cities of the country, and in the music business in general—strengthening its status as the “national music” every day (Paranhos 2011; Vianna 1999). But it was not always so.
