At first listen, you may hear little feminism in Rio de Janeiro’s favela funk, with its explicit and often violent lyrics. That’s what Adriana Facina thought when she started researching this electronic dance music.

But looking closer at the female MCs who’ve broken into this male-dominated scene, she realised her mistake. By singing frankly about sex and life on the streets in the city’s toughest neighbourhoods, the pioneering women of Brazilian funk are emboldening young women to speak their truths and redefining what feminism sounds like.