the early 1990's saw pagode being commercialized, and related events evolved from backyard parties to whole block parties and parades, especially during carnival, some, even with corporate sponsorship.  

the genre quickly expanded outside of rio de janeiro,  and developed local styles in são paulo, bahía and minas gerais - despite all its changes and variations, pagode keeps its african soul, with some of today's biggest bands keep that heritance alive.

raça negra ('black race'), negritude junior (junior blackness), and so pra contrariar ('just to disagree') are among the most successful modern pagode singers who emphasized such heritance in their notes.