Brazil’s ‘What a shot’ music video stirs debate amid violent crime wave

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) - A viral music video called “What a shot” is stirring debate in Brazil about the glamorization of crime and freedom of expression, as surging crime in Rio de Janeiro has led the government to put troops in charge of security in the tourist city.

The hit by Jordana Gleise de Jesus Menezes - known as JoJo Todynho has spawned myriad parody videos on YouTube since it was released in December.

The clips often show children and adults collapsing to the ground as a shot rings out following the lyrics “What a shot”, before the person stands up and begins to dance as the music picks up.

The spoofs have revived debate about whether the popular dance music genre from Rio de Janeiro, known as funk, glamorizes violence. On Friday, Brazil’s government ordered the army to take over command of police forces in Rio de Janeiro state to curb violence after killings increased by nearly 8 percent last year to 6,731.

A petition to outlaw funk music because of its explicit treatment of violence, sex and drugs gained more than 20,000 signatures last year but has failed to gain traction in Congress. In a population of around 210 million people, the government recorded 59,080 gun deaths in 2015, putting it in the top 10 World Bank list of the most murderous countries.

In a music video featuring images of coffins and the faces of young children killed by stray bullets in Rio, rapper Gabriel O Pensador, also from Rio, Brazil’s second largest city, objected to the parodies.

“What a shot? No, I’m not going to fall to the floor ... I’m a joker too, but joking has a time and a place,” he raps. “The Rio that we love celebrates carnival and this violence is terrifying.”