Afoxê is an Afro-Brazilian carnival genre from Salvador, Bahia, rooted in the ijexá rhythm of Candomblé (Ketu) ritual music and performed by street processions known as blocos. It blends sacred Afro-diasporic percussion patterns with call-and-response singing, celebratory melodies, and strong communal participation.
Characterized by a gentle, lilting 4/4 groove (often around 90–110 BPM), afoxê features atabaques (rum, rumpi, lé), agogô bells, xequerê/afoxê shakers, and chorus vocals invoking orixás and affirming Black Bahian identity. Modern arrangements may add guitars, bass, and keyboards while preserving the ijexá pulse. The genre lends its name to the afoxê (shekere-like) gourd shaker commonly used in its ensembles.
Afoxê emerged in Salvador, Bahia, in the late 1800s as Afro-Brazilian communities brought Candomblé’s ijexá rhythm and chants into the public sphere during carnival. Early organizations and Black carnival clubs paved the way for specifically Afro-referenced processions, transforming sacred rhythmic language into a cultural, civic celebration while preserving religious symbolism and aesthetics.
In 1949, Filhos de Gandhy formed and became the emblematic afoxê bloco, wearing white and blue garments with turbaned attire and beaded necklaces, and foregrounding ijexá before massive carnival crowds. Despite periods of social prejudice and restrictions on Afro-Brazilian practices, afoxê maintained and broadened its presence through disciplined percussion, dignified presentation, and community-based organization.
From the 1970s onward, the ijexá groove permeated Brazilian popular music (MPB) via artists like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Parallel Afro-Bahian movements—blocos afro such as Ilê Aiyê and groups like Badauê—helped expand Black cultural pride on the avenue. This creative momentum fed directly into the rise of axé music and influenced the development of samba-reggae, while afoxê processions continued to anchor the spiritual and historical roots of Bahian carnival.
Today, afoxê remains a living tradition in Bahia and beyond (including notable groups in Recife), retaining core ritual markers—chants, colors, symbols of orixás—alongside modern staging and sound systems. Ensembles still teach the ijexá pulse to new generations, and the genre’s aesthetics continue to shape Brazilian pop, stage productions, and global “Afro-Brazilian” performance.
