Lambadão: breaking the borders of the periphery

Abstract Non hegemonic forms of musical production have appeared in peripheral regions of Brazil, such as the lambadão genre in the Mato Grosso state. Lambadão is a product of the lower classes that, without expecting recognition from the cultural industry, but in dialog with it, use their own devices to have their music be heard. The objective of this article is to analyze how lambadão is articulated and projected in the peripheries of Cuiabá and Várzea Grande. The recording of CDs at live performances or in home studios and the reproduction and sale of the recordings by street vendors are dynamic processes used to produce and promote this musical genre. Far from being mere responses to a situation of precariousness and marginality in the field of cultural production, these processes are creative practices that attend to differentiated value systems.