Pimba

Pimba is a Portuguese depreciatory term used for qualifying a variety of popular Portuguese folk solo singers and bands who focus on simplistic catchy songs with rough lyrics frequently driven by metaphors with sexual meanings.

Many Pimba songs use vulgar puns and jokes or address topics suggesting sexual behaviour, seemingly to gain popularity, as in the hit singles "Queres Ketchup, Maria?" ("Do You Want Ketchup, Mary?" — when spoken often sounds as "do you want me to suck you, Mary?"), by Quim Gouveia or "É o ECU!" ("It's the ECU!" (ECU was the first name thought for the euro) — when spoken sounds like "it's the ass!"), by Banda Lusa.

History

Pimba bands and musicians/singers are influenced by the rural areas of the country and the emigration phenomena which permeated Portuguese society throughout the 20th century. Although based in some elements of Portuguese folk music, it is basically straightforward functional pop music with simplistic harmonies and melodies, minimal lyrics and heavy use of cheap rhythm boxes and synthesizers. It is designed to be played in dancing parties and weddings.

Although very popular among Portuguese immigrants and certain rural areas of the country, Pimba music and its musicians/groups are generally considered inferior by most of the population, and is particularly attacked by artists dedicated to genuinely traditional Portuguese folk genres.

They can be said to use the same themes as folklore and target the same audience, though some Pimba singers shun the title and call themselves "poetic" or "romantic artists" in an attempt to claim serious artistic recognition. A parallel between Pimba and American Country music audiences can be drawn - nevertheless the lyrics of Country are usually of a more serious nature and its musical content is more complex and based on genuine folk tradition.

Pimba music is a cheap and mass-produced affair - extremely basic harmonic structures and catchy, short melodies, sometimes lifted from existing Portuguese folk songs, other times thinly veiled adaptations (or even outright plagiarism) from mainstream pop music. It draws superficially from Portuguese folk music (particularly with the use of the accordion and certain popular rhythmic structures), but mixes it with instrumentation and basic arrangements from anglo-american pop music. The lyrics are also very simplistic and rough, based on clichéd dramatic love stories, partying, repetitive use of expletives and straightforward overt sexual innuendo.

Until the 1980s, the word "pimba" was merely a common, non-offensive slang word, generally used to express the accomplishment of an action or an unexpected event. In 1993, pop rock band Ex-Votos released an album called "Cantigas do Bloqueio", with the hit single "Subtilezas porno-populares" a.k.a. "...e pimba" a song that talked about the sexual fantasies of a degenerate man - it was so successful that popular singer Emanuel was quick to jump in the bandwagon and create a song with the same expression ("pimba") being repeatedly used in the chorus. This song was "Nós Pimba" (which translates to "We Pimba", meaning "we do it", sexually). In the 1990s, the word was informally coined as an adjective, to identify this kind of music, its sense being quite derogatory, synonymous with tacky. Use of the word spread to describe TV shows, radio programs and other media, fashion, etc. and eventually "pimba" acquired the general meaning of a cultural attitude that lacks intellectual content or quality and is tasteless and vulgar.

In recent years, a "pimba-pride" movement emerged, with fans and artists stating it is "the" contemporary Portuguese folk music, and arguing that music doesn't have to always be profound and elevated. Some intellectuals came to accept this view, recognizing that, in a proper context, this genre is unquestionably entertaining and amusing.

Examples

A very popular Pimba artist is Quim Barreiros. He started his career before Emanuel, being one of the first, if not the actual first, documented case of Pimba. In most of his songs, Barreiros makes extensive use of ambiguous words, often with obvious sexual suggestions. One of Quim Barreiros' biggest hits was "A Garagem da Vizinha" (The [Female] Neighbour's Garage), which is a metaphor for the female genitalia, but he is also known for hits such as "Mariazinha", where he asks a woman named Mariazinha to let him smell her "codfish".

Some female singers have shown a lot of success in this kind of music. One of them is Ruth Marlene (alternative spelling in correct Portuguese Rute Marlene). Another is Mónica Sintra, famous for songs like "Na minha cama com ela" ("In my bed with her") or "Afinal havia outra" ("After all there was another [girl]"), songs about heartbreak and cheating. Other famous Pimba singers include: Romana, Micaela, Agata, Claudisabel, Saul Ricardo, Nel Monteiro, Toy, among others.

Leonel Nunes is widely held as the King of the "alternative" Pimba, as the remote location he hails from influences most of his work, therefore to the urban or suburban listener some of the themes depicted in Leonel's songs might seem unusual, humorous or simply too far-fetched.

Artists

Emanuel

Quim Barreiros

LINDA

Rosinha

Jorge Ferreira

Ruth Marlene

José Malhoa

Agata

Romana

Nel Monteiro

Leonel Nunes

Category:Portuguese styles of music

Category:Musical subcultures