Rebellion, sex and lots of cursing: Katy da Voz finds the punk in Brazilian funk
With electronic beats, aggressive lyrics and theatrical performances, Katy da Voz has been making her mark in the Brazillian underground, with the Abusadas by her side
Text and interview by Pedro Paulo Furlan.
São Paulo, 12h. One of the biggest growing names in the Brazilian underground, Katy da Voz sits down with me for our interview. In the middle of a year filled with achievements, Katy da Voz e As Abusadas’ vocalist, the Brazilian funk group formed by her, Palladino Proibida and Degoncé, starts by tracing her route here from the creation of her name, in 2012.
“Everything started in 2012, during a Lady Gaga show. The gays kept saying that I looked like Katy Perry, and we had this habit of calling each other by a pop diva’s name”, she tells.
Made up to be an Instagram handle, Katy da Voz was born with a mixture of humor and love for pop culture that mixes perfectly with the artistic career that Katy would build in the next years. It was four years later that she took her first steps into São Paulo’s nights.
Applying to become ‘pistoleira’ (a job in clubs and bars where they pour drinks into people’s mouths and entertain the clients) in a nightclub in São Paulo, Katy da Voz released her first song as part of the application process. Adopting MC Katy da Voz as her artistic name and getting the job, the artist started to open her own way into the night scene.
Now, almost six years after her first steps, Katy da Voz is becoming one of the biggest promises in the Brazillian underground. Side by side with Palladino and Degoncé, the Abusadas are having a very successful 2024, getting on stage at the Hopi Pride festival, reaching over 100 thousand streams on their hit “VTNC” and with a new remix album almost out.
A “pop diva” in Brazilian funk
Hailing from the outskirts of the southern side of São Paulo, specifically from Grajaú, Katy da Voz grew up with Brazilian funk as part of her day to day. Besides Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, the singer remembers listening to Tati Quebra Barraco, Marisa Pecadora and MC Katia, pulling from these influences when she became an artist.
“I always felt that I wanted to be an artist, a pop diva, you know?”, Katy da Voz says:
“But, I find it really important to bring up the Brazilian funk culture that is mine, it’s my living, I grew up listening to funk, I grew up going to the balls”.
Slowly growing in the night scene, after getting the ‘pistoleira’ job, the artist, that describes herself as a “femme fag” at the time, started pilling up experiences, going into the drag world and getting more and more contacts. Katy tells me that this moment of sinking into the night that guaranteed the success that would come.
In 2019, she decided to sit her childhood friends, Degoncé and Palladino Proibida, down and suggest that they start a musical group. According to Katy, the idea came from watching her friends’ talents, pointing out Palla’s, how Katy calls her, talent as a composer and Degoncé’s as a dancer.
“Palladino is an amazing composer, she always develops lyrics so well, Degoncé has always dreamt of dancing and being seen, so I thought we could become a group - and they both accepted it straight away”.
“We’ve always wanted to, firstly, sing about a lot of sex and curse a ton”, Katy says, laughing slightly, and that was how most of Katy da Voz e As Abusadas’ lyrics were born. Alongside Palladino, Katy created a way to tell all three of their lived experiences as trans women, but without losing the “art of sex”, a known part of Brazilian funk.
With hits such as “Rola Grossa, Que Gostosa!” (roughly translated to “Thick Cock, So Tasty!”), “VTNC” (standing for “Vai Tomar no Cu”, which means “Go Fuck Yourself”) and “Sensação de…” with Irmãs de Pau, the group has been taking the underground scene by storm, travelling all over Brazil, appearing in the most different parties and making their mark, specially with their unique and theatrical performances.
“We’re doing shows in places where no one knows who we are, so we’ve gotta shock and get their attention in some way”.
“We’ve always loved being attention seekers”
Equipped with a saxophone, a tripod, a half-moon and even a dildo, Katy da Voz e As Abusadas are known for their performances - that take the songs to another level. Uniting theatricality and aggressiveness, the shows become moments to really pull focus and make the audience pay attention to them.
The first time I watched one of the group’s performances was last year, during a Halloween party, in which Katy da Voz was wheeled into the stage in a stretcher, as if she was possessed, and that was what she behaved as during the rest of the show. Hanging from pillars, simulating oral sex on the dildo, “That night was so chic”, tells me Katy.
Alongside their songs filled with curse words and lots of sex - a really important aspect for the three Abusadas - their performances make their concerts into a political manifestation.
“We’re three trans women, going hard, and singing about all of this without any fear. People still get shocked, but, they’re actually shocked it's trans women doing it”.
In panties and pasties covering her nipples, Katy da Voz puts herself in a highlighted position on top of the stage. Screaming “Go fuck yourself”, in many ways, the artist takes the spot of a creator of Brazilian funk’s culture, doing, in her own words, “the same thing multiple people are also doing”, the only difference being her gender identity.
In this way, the group’s existence reaches a real life punk aspect, as Katy da Voz tells me, bringing trans women’s perspectives and lived experiences, alongside a lot of rebellion. “All we’re doing is punk, we’re three marginalized trans women, and, to me, being a trans woman is already as punk as it gets”, says the singer.
With lyrics that walk the line between humor and rebellion, diving deep into the mix of both tones, Katy da Voz e as Abusadas live in a world without censorship, from their name, to their productions. And, because of this, they’re not for everyone, as the vocalist says, telling they’ve been criticized by their own community.
“We’ve received a lot of messages from trans women, who live here in Grajaú, saying that we’re ruining our image. They see the comedic stuff and think we’re just a bunch of clowns, you know?”.
Talking about those people who refuse to understand the Abusadas’ perspective, the singer says that she tries to not let any of those comments bring her down: “I think understanding yourself is the best you can do, understanding your own art, and that’s it, knowing your truth, you have it all”.
Tormented, Remixed and Full of Success
After the release of “VTNC”, in april of this year, the Abusadas released their remix album, “Atormentadas y Remixadas”, roughly translated to “Tormented and Remixed”, that brought together a lot of producers from the underground scene. With the presence of Clementaum, Zaila, Caio Prince, and more, the project symbolizes the group’s growth into one of the night’s biggest names nowadays.
“We really wanted to bring these DJ’s and producers from the scene that people maybe still don't know, but they will know now. We wanted to bring them into this project so that they could really reap good results from ‘Atormentadas’ too”.
2024 has been a year of growth for the group. Their first long project, the remix album, was released, they started a tour across clubs and parties in many parts of Brazil, and, besides that, also got on stage at the Hopi Pride festival, in the end of April, presenting their hit “VTNC”, and singing besides the duo Irmãs de Pau.
“Ever since I’ve known myself, known my plans, known my dreams, that I lay down in bed and close my eyes, Hopi Pride has always been my number one, you know?”, Katy tells me, pointing out that the short performance on the festival was one of her biggest dreams so far, but, now she’s got her eyes set on even bigger objectives.
Reaching hundreds of thousands of streams, Katy da Voz e As Abusadas are in constant growth, and, now, the vocalist dreams of travelling more and more, and in having their own concert at Hopi Pride, not as a guest, but as the main star.
Editorial Credits:
Makeup: @ict0r
Hair: @chicasintetaz @barbtwoo
Still, with lots of ambition, Katy da Voz guarantees that the underground will forever be her home, and the Abusadas’ favorite audience. “The underground really is our target audience, it’s the people we really want to listen to us”, she tells me, ending up by saying that the underground clubs will always be her favorite stages.
“I always told the girls: ‘These gays wearing black t-shirts, one day they will like us”.