Child MCs gain fame with lyrics about sex and luxury

04/28/2014 - 09h53

MC Pedrinho, less than a meter and a half tall, is famous. He sings, dances and plays shows in packed houses. He answers passionate fans. Pedrinho, 11, is exploding, but, at this mother's request, never kisses anyone.

His hit "Dom Dom Dom" has 1 million views on YouTube and makes reference to oral sex. "Dom dom dom dom/ Dom dom dom/ Get on your knees, get ready and" MC Pedrinho sings, with his high voice, on YouTube. The end of the chorus is not publishable.

As of Friday, 460,000 were following a Facebook profile with his name. Hiring him for a show costs R$ 5,000. On this weekend along he will perform five times.

	Eduardo Knapp/Folhapress
	Mc Pedrinho, 11, resident of Vila Maria (north of SP)

His name is Pedro Maia. He attends the seventh grade at a public school in Vila Maria, the neighborhood where he lives in northern São Paulo.

Pedrinho's career in Funk Pesadão (or Heavy Funk), as the "sexy" version of this style of music is called, started this year with "Dom Dom Dom." He had one more song in the same style, with a chorus that refers to the movement of a vagina.

But that all stops there, says producer Douglas Santos, who has been taking care of the boy's career for a month now. "Our focus now is lighter songs that can be played on radio and TV," he says. Santos is trying to pull the heavier versions of Pedrinho's songs off the internet.

The boy's mother, housekeeper Analee Maia, 39, doesn't see any problem with her son's Funk Pesadão. "As long as he doesn't sing it in front of me."

The "more correct" version, which already plays on three São Paulo radio stations, is now "Dom dom dom/ I was here at the club listening to that sound."

Just a kid, Pedrinho is playful. He makes jokes and likes to play Xbox. He dances well and dreams of buying a house with the money he is earning. Today, he lives in a small room with his mother and three siblings.

His producer promises that, in the next few days, he'll move with his family to an apartment.

"My mom says that I'm not to kiss on the mouth while at school," he said sheepishly.

Pedrinho is not a unique case. MCs, as funk singers are known, under the age of 16 have popped up all over São Paulo. MC Matheus Monteiro, 12, sings songs about luxury. "Come woman, take a ride on Santa Fé/ In the master suite, you choose what you want," says one of them.

Funk is also a financial choice. Successful MCs earn well. At 21, Guilherme Dantas, also known as MC Guimê, is already earning R$ 1.5 million a month. At 15, Guilherme Alves, or MC Gui, gives shows that cost up to R$ 18,000.

Translated by JILL LANGLOIS