As the traditionally free-wheeling celebrations of the famous Carnival kick-off Friday around the country in Brazil, the mayor of a Brazilian town has banned revellers from playing any funk or rap music during this time.

Mayor Jose Neto of Sao Lourenco in south-eastern Minas Gerais informed Globo television of the banning of any song inciting violence or encouraging disrespect of authority, desiring no more than to protect traditional Carnival music like the samba.

Reportedly, he has ordered anyone who is caught listening to funk, a pounding beat often accompanied with sexual lyrics and extremely popular in the slums of Rio de Janeiro's slums, or rap during the Carnival, will either have to turn it off, or else be arrested, spending up to six months in prison.

Frowned upon by police and city authorities in Rio, funk music has faced crackdowns, as it is associated with slum gangs, who use parties as a selling point for drugs. Originating in the slus of USA in the late 1960s, the music form has formed a mainstream following in Brazil, and even far away Europe.