Pagodão

Pagodão, also called pagode baiano, swingueira or quebradeira, is a dance music from Salvador, Bahia, built by fusing samba-reggae and samba de roda percussion with the lighter pagode format and electronic keyboards. Its signature is the repique-led groove: dense Afro-Bahian drum batteries, call-and-response chants and simple, repetitive hooks designed for mass choreography at carnival blocos and neighbourhood parties. Emerging in the mid-1990s with *É o Tchan!*, it became the dominant party sound of Bahia, distinct from axé music through its heavier percussion and favela-bred lyrical directness.