Rain poured down and a chorus of voices mingling with percussion echoed from one brightly lit front porch, breaking the evening quiet along a residential street in Rio de Janeiro’s northern zone. A dozen men sat on stools, strumming string instruments and beating drums of all shapes and sizes, singing their hearts out. At first glance, the scene would have appeared to be a classic roda de samba – a traditional Brazilian gathering where musicians sit in a circle to perform samba. But the large poster hanging behind the musicians, emblazoned with “Project Samba with Christ,” signaled a different kind of roda, as did the lyrics that rang out: all the songs praised God.

The rise of a Christian subgenre of samba in Brazil reignites old debates about cultural appropriation and whether any music can glorify God.