During Rihanna’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime this Sunday (13), which marked her return to the stage after five years, Brazilians could see that the singer introduced “Rude Boy” to the setlist with a style that sounded familiar to the ears.
To play the hit from her fourth album “Rated R” (2009), the singer chose a remix with funk beats produced by Brazilian DJ Klean.
“Really, nothing is impossible, believe in your dreams”, reacted after the show the 20-year-old Bahian from the city of Itarantim, who produced the version of the song by “playing a little joke”.
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Assiduous fans of the pop superstar know that her penchant for Brazilian style is nothing new. Rihanna has already opened space for funk in at least two other opportunities during the annual fashion show of her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty.
In 2019, the song “Malokera” – by Ludmilla, MC Lan, Skrillex, Troyboi and Ty Dolla $ign – was part of the parade’s soundtrack. In last year’s edition, singer Anitta was one of the artists invited to perform and also included a funk medley in the setlist.
The choice for the Super Bowl presentation drew attention for highlighting a Brazilian artist who is still in the early stages of his career.
Meet Klean, a young DJ sponsored by Tropkillaz
Klean, or Ewerthon Carvalho Santos, comes from a small town in central southern Bahia, Itarantim, with around 20,000 inhabitants.
Producer and DJ since he was 15, he describes that the main characteristic of his sounds is the use of “percussive elements, in a sound with great influence on Latin and Caribbean rhythms (Dancehall, Dembow, Reggaeton and the Brazilian Baile Funk itself). , and also in African rhythms (Afrobeat and Kuduro)”.
In October 2020, he published on Instagram that he was listening to “Rude Boy”, which is his favorite song by Rihanna, and decided to “play a little joke with the vocals and make the song very Brazilian”.
The version was automatically very successful on social networks and began to be used by content producers as a soundtrack for other publications.
For example, on TikTok, some videos using the Klean remix accumulate more than 2 million views.
@hato.dj sheesh, bad gyal laughi meets 🇧🇷🥵 #dj #music #reaction #djathome #funk party ♬ original sound – HATO
Due to the public’s reaction, the singer from Itaranti decided to invest in the “little joke” and released the full version of the remix on Soundcloud, which already has almost 300,000 listens. On YouTube, after the Super Bowl, there are already more than 5.6 million plays.
In the same year that Rihanna’s remix was published, Klean participated in a contest – a “battle of remixes” – promoted by DJs Lauz and Zegon, from the duo Tropkillaz, one of the most famous electronic music projects in the country.
The young DJ from Bahia ended up being one of the five chosen winners.
“We were surprised by Klean. It was one of the last ones we heard. It’s really f*cking for us to hear it last and be surprised when our ears are already tired”, reported the duo during the announcement.
On his social networks, the DJ states that this moment was the day when “everything changed”: “I consider Tropkillaz my godfathers in music and I am very grateful for all the support they have been giving me.”
This Sunday (12), upon seeing Rihanna dancing to the sound of his pupil’s remix, Zegon went to Twitter to celebrate: “You can scream now and celebrate! Proud of my nephew!”
You can scream now and celebrate! The @Rihanna played Rude Boy Remix from @kleanmusicofc now in the Superbowl! that’s the name of the remix! Proud my nephew!
—Dj Zegon (@zegon) February 13, 2023
From Klean’s Instagram history, you can see his growth as an artist. In Spotify’s 2019 retrospective, it had amassed 754 listens from 183 listeners. In 2020, there were 1,500 streams for 579 listeners.
In the following year, a jump to 47.2 thousand streams and 15.1 thousand listeners. And, in 2022, Klean already managed 234.9 thousand streams for 52 thousand listeners on the platform.
On Sunday night (12), the DJ had just over 3,000 followers on Instagram. On the morning of this Monday (13), after the Super Bowl, there are almost 40,000 followers on the platform.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
