it took a few years to realty get going before truly taking off in the 70s - coined 'samba-rock' for obvious reasons, it only took the name after first being called 'sambalanço' and 'swing and rock samba', but it wasn't until the release of an album called 'o som dos blacks' by the genre's namesake, sambarock, in 1981 - not surprisingly, samba-rock sounds a lot like samba music, but there are naturally some major differences.

the genre was born of a 4/4 rhythm, the same that is used to play rock and soul, and which replaces the traditional 2/4 tempo of classic samba - this exclusive beat,  as well as the introduction to electronic instrumentals have ended up producing the special sound that has defined samba-rock through the decades, since the 60s - in addition to rock, the formation of the musical style has over the years also been influenced by soul, jazz, and funk.