(Originally published in the Lungu Lungu column for Fader magazine) It pains me to say it, but it appears kuduro is seriously fading out in Angola. It’s so hard to believe. I was there just two years ago, and kuduro was blasting out of every single candongueiro and radio station, all day long. But there is hope! A lot of hope, as producers trained on kuduro are still behind the decks. If you’ve been reading this column, you already know about my current addiction of choice, Angolan afrohouse. Well, here’s a second round of Mwangolé dopeness.

DJ X-Trio grew up in Luanda. In 1999, he met one of his friends’ older brother, DJ Clioo, there. At the time, Clioo was a big-shot kuduro producer—one of the hits under his belt is the famous (for Angolans and kuduro nerds) “Wakimono” by Nacobeta. When X-Trio saw all the gear at Clioo’s house, he nearly lost it. He, however, had absolutely no gear. With no laptop or even headphones to work with, he took full advantage of his one and only USB stick, which he used to carry the Mixvibes DJing software around with him all over town. He’d hop around and install it on any computer he could get his hands on, practicing his DJing skills while visiting PC-equipped friends.

A year later, he traded a bottle of Calvin Klein perfume to get his first pair of headphones. Then in 2003, he got a hold of Fruity Loops, which he also put on his pen drive, and would now wander town in search of PCs to install the software on. This is how X-Trio started making beats. At the time he tried to reproduce some of the current kuduro hits, which explains X-Trio’s incredible strength with drum patterns. Eventually DJ Clioo recommended X-Trio hone his skills with kizomba, to get a deeper feel for creating melodies and baselines.

But here comes the best part. For years, while he lived in Namibia where his family temporarily settled (the civil war in Angola only ended in 2002), X-Trio made kuduro and kizomba beats, which in Windhoek were not exactly the latest rage. In 2008, he DJed at a school event, and was spotted by the founders of the brand new Fresh FM radio station, which specialized in increasingly popular South African house. The guys invited X-Trio for an interview the very next day. X-Trio knew kizomba and kuduro was not what the listeners were after, so he said he also produced house music, which he didn’t. The hosts asked him to bring some tracks to play on the air. So X-Trio went home, locked himself in front of his laptop, went through the South African tracks he had on it for inspiration, and got busy. The next morning he had finished his two very first afrohouse tracks, which he brought to the radio. The feedback was good, and the radio instantly started playing the songs!

That is how X-Trio started producing afrohouse. He’d adapt current hip hop hits, made a bunch of remixes and kept sending his music to the radio, which kept playing his songs.Shortly after X-Trio finished high school in Windhoek and moved back to Luanda, now capital of a peaceful (albeit still almost as wild) country, where he started university. One day a friend shows him the track “Jezebel” by Professor, a South African house classic. X-Trio thought it sounded cool but says, “it could never work in Angola, it’s too soft.” So instead of meticulously focusing on his computer programming class, he put on his headphones, in class, and started working on a remix. By the time school was finished, he’d put his kuduro programming skills to good use, and added the intricate drum patterns you hear on this remix:

Professor, “Jezebel (X-Trio Afro-Flavour Remix)” by The FADER

At Afrohouse was not getting any kind of attention at the time (2008) in Angola, probably because in general it was more soulful and melodic than percussive. Too soft in a world where kuduro sets the bar (can you imagine a place where kuduro sets the bar? DOPE). But after passing his track around for a few weeks, X-Trio’s remix became a hit in Luanda. From its popularity, Angola discovered Professor. The same story happened a few months later with another South African hit, “Fairy Tale,” by Liquideep. X-Trio amped up that track too, shaping it into a proper Angolan hit song with complex and heavy drums. Since then, both Professor and Liquideep have performed in Angola.

X-Trio was not alone in bringing afrohouse to the forefront. He tells me the first massive Angolan house hit was “Elegom Bounsa”by DJ Djeff and Maskarado, which I am proud to say I noticed last year, and released on Akwaaba. Others, such as Silyvi (also featured on the Akwaaba Remixed compilation) Renato Xtrova and Dutch housemeister Gregor Salto have contributed to bringing afrohouse to the forefront of the Angolan music scene. I initially assumed afrohouse was somewhat of an elitist trend, confined to the posh clubs of Luanda’s Ilha. I was wrong. X-Trio tells me candongueiro’s now blast afrohouse across town. Unbelievable!

Still, X-Trio is restless. He is now studying sound production in Cape Town, after his fame finally convinced his father to let him pursue music, apparently not an easy feat. Once he finishes the program of stufy next year, he wants to jump into film production. His goal is to master all creative aspects of the business, from making beats to making music videos, in order to create a proper record label in Angola. So while his songs are still free and available, I highly recommend you check out the rest of his output here. I had a really hard time picking one song to feature here, and went with the one which is the most historically relevant. But others are just as relevant on the dance floor. So before he is signed to a major label who pull down bootlegs, enjoy them while they’re still up!

Via Benjamin Lebrave‘s Lungu Lungu column over at Fader Mag:

I’ve been neck deep into Angolan house. I recently discovered a never ending thread of good afro-house coming from Angola on Soundcloud. So I quickly put my rusty Portuguese to use and connected with a slew of cats making these beats. After a few weeks of nerding out I’m now getting a better feel for what seems to be much more than a Soundcloud blog-house microtrend. In fact I’m told this sound is taking over clubs in Luanda. A few days ago I had a chance to chat with DJ Delany Duvall of Luanda, who schooled me on this recent Angolan house bidniss.

Most readers are aware of Cabo Snoop, whose sound has seriously shifted the music scene in Angola. His producer IVM Beatz (who unfortunately passed last February) has been instrumental in pushing a more polished, house-y sound. Along with Cabo, producers such as DJ Djeff have been on heavy rotation at major Angolan nightclubs, pushing straight-up Angolan-flavored afro-house. I remember when I went to clubs in Luanda in 2009 I heard Angolan music (semba, kizomba and kuduro), Francophone music (ndombolo, zouk), some US-style hip-hop and R&B, and that was pretty much it. It seemed diverse to me, but I also realized the boundaries of these genres were never crossed. Playing some Black Coffee or Culoe de Song seemed unthinkable. But only two years later, I stumble upon dozens of afro-house artists, who are not just on Soundcloud: they are actually playing and getting played in Angola!

How did this shift happen? DJ Delany’s story is quite insightful. Like many high school kids in Luanda, Delany started messing around with Fruity Loops. The software is hardly avoidable in Angola, where it has allowed beatmakers to create pretty much any kuduro song you can think of. During his first years playing around with Fruity Loops, Delany was mainly making semba and kuduro-inspired beats. The shifting point for him was moving to Namibia in 2008. Like many middle and upper class Angolan teen-agers, Delany left the country to attend university. And like many Angolans studying in Windhoek, Jozi or Durban, Delany caught the South African house bug.

What’s interesting to me here is that like many other young Angolan afro-house producers, Delany keeps a distinctly Angolan feel in his beats. This is probably what is allowing him, DJ Djeff and the like to take over Angolan nightclubs: they are not just playing or making afro-house, they are creating Angolan house. The difference might be subtle for most of us, but for someone raised on semba and kuduro, it’s huge.

To further showcase how Angolans like to keep things Angolan, and how doing so with music only makes things better, I picked a Kanye West bootleg remix. I live in my African music bubble, and had never heard the original song. So I rediscovered Kanye through Delany, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe some day Delany or one of his peers will replace A-Trak as Kanye’s DJ… unless A-Trak starts DJing for the next Cabo? Or maybe the next A-Trak AND the next Kanye are both Angolan? Best to embrace this stuff now, it’s going to happen!

Power (DJ Delany Duvall Remix) – K.West by Dj Delany

What can we say… Cabo Snoop’s stuff is catchy. And now he flirts with Congolese and Ivorian styles, bam! Another fun video by Hochifu. More Angolan goodness while we’re at it:

And last but certainly not least… Cabo Snoop in Ghana:

We are excited to welcome Batida back on our pages, and even more excited to release this great little EP with them, in celebration of the founding of the African Union in 1963. Before we tell you the story behind this EP, we do want to stress that this free EP will only be available to download for a week! After that… moving on to other things.

The idea was to celebrate the 25th of May,  Africa Day with a musical tribute to one of the  (if not the) most emblematic figure of Africa: the woman, the mother, with her baby (and others) on her back, carrying and selling goods, finding a way to bring food to the table by the end of the day.

It all started with “Rap-Semba”, which Mpula of Batida produced in Luanda in 2010, where you can hear this chorus:  “Can of Water on her head… There goes Maria… There goes Maria…”
Mpula then challenged some of his favorite MCs, to build a poem on this figure that could be: Africa the continent, the African mother or even their own mothers, on a social or more emotional approach. The structure and instrumental are always the same but they brought their own life to each version.

1 – Karlon (aka Kota K)
He makes part of the history of the hip hop movement in Portugal, embracing the 4 elements, known as the founder of Nigga Poison, the most respected Afro Rap band in Portugal. On his version he talks about the generosity of women in his life and also in his hood, mostly immigrants from Cape Verde, taking care of the children, working and keeping their homes together.

2 – Izé Teixeira
Izé is mostly known for his groups Mc Malcriado and Neg Marrons. He has just released his new solo album called “Urb Africa”, where you find his condition divided between traditional Cape Verdian music with new Urban trends. In his version he talks about the “Mother Crioula”, that travels in search for a better life for her family. Again, a bit of a common story in Cape Verde and the rest of Africa, with his own.

3 – Ikonoklasta
The most activist rapper in Angola these days. He started as a radio dj in Luanda, was involved in groups like the Conjunto Ngonguenha, is a nuclear Fazuma element and now the most regular Batida Mc. On his lyrics he talks about his own life and the past and present of Africa.

If you hear a Western DJ playing music from Africa, 99% of the time he/she will either be playing old school afrobeat and afrofunk, or super high energy dance music. Unless maybe you find yourself in a Cape Verdian club we doubt you’d hear a lot of more mellow sounds. Well thankfully, as exemplified with his Chop Chop Supermix, there’s DJ Zhao. The man of the hour when it comes to digging deeper into music that will move more than your hips and feet. Perfect timing with Valentine’s day around the corner, some warm lovin’ music to kick off the week end on a bright note.

Ho Chi Fu strikes again! If he is not yet a household name in your brain, then go check out his youtube channel NOW. He has established himself as the number one music video director in Angola, a country with a booming music scene, more and more cash, hence more and more good looking videos. Spread this one around, it shows Angola – and even Africa – in a way too many would not ever expect. Elegom Bounsa – slang/broken portuguese for he’s a good dancer, ele e bom dançar. Get the track from iTunes or directly from us here:

This here is a 2 hour roundup of some of our favorite sounds coming from Africa. With a definite emphasis on sounds to make your hips move, and also definitely not an exhaustive line-up of genres – we are heavily biased towards Ghana, Angola, the Congo Kinshasa and Ivory Coast… what can you do!

BBRAVE put this mix together for This Is Africa and Nairobi-based Ghetto Radio who will air the mix… shortly. In the meantime, cop it here, and make sure to check out the full playlist below. And make sure to play loud and warm up the tip of your half-frozen feet!!

Monalisa – Ruff-N-Smooth Site | Buy
Simple – Bradez Buy
She De Bee feat. Guru – Old Sodja
So Cold – DaSoul
Ratata feat. K. Switch – R2Bees Buy
Extra – Just A Band Site | Buy
No Time feat. P Square – Bracket Buy
Swagger feat Stay Jay – Ruff-N-Smooth Site | Buy
Dome Na Mendowo feat. Castro – Appietus Site | Buy
Pipi – Marlaw
Fall In Love – D’Banj Buy
Yori Yori- Bracket Buy
Essabel feat. Mike & Old Sodja- Appietus Site | Buy
Boom Back Remix feat. Jose Chameleone – Bebe Kool
No One Like You – P-Square Buy
? – Les Garagistes Buy
Coeur Blanc - Les Patrons Buy
Do As i Do – Bracket Buy
Ma Alomo feat. KK Fosu & Reggie Zippy – Appietus Site | Buy
Eha Ye De (Bebia Awo) feat. SK Blinks - Nana Boroo Buy
Femme Africaine Lutchiana 100%
Elegom Bounsa feat. Maskarado (Radio Mix) – DJ Djeff Site | Buy
Relela – Skeat Site | Buy
Miss Doctor feat. 4X4 – Appietus Site | Buy
Kiss Ur Hand feat. Wande Coal- R2Bees Buy
Usinibore – Just A Band Site | Buy
DJ’s Mortel (2) – Polio – Kiloko
Sentiment Moka – ?
Wengeze – Eazzy
Windek – Cabo Snoop
Tchouchou Tchoucou – Kedjevara Site | Buy
Coupe de Tête de Zidane – DJ Menza Site | Buy
Asta Di – Aurlus Mabele Buy
Django – DJ Bonano Site | Buy
Som Do Zoca – Zoca Zoca Site | Buy
Tabouret Baoulé – Pat Sexy
Celimania Remix – Gadji Celi Buy
Sukuma – Killamu Site | Buy
Tiramakossa - Noite e Día Site | Buy
Number One - Fofandó & Saborosa Site | Buy
Aladin Mix – DJ Znobia
Kassumuna - Game Walla

DJ Djeff feat Maskarado – Elegom Bounsa by Akwaaba Music

DJ Djeff offers a break from the raw Angolan kuduro batidas, and shows us a clubbier side to the Luanda sound on Elegom Bounsa, a collaboration with kuduro-house darling MC Maskarado.

House and deep house are the result of years in Portugal’s club circuit, inspired by the likes of Louie Vega, DJ Gregory or Erick Morillo. Looking further, DJ Djeff’s music has roots in African and Caribbean classics such as Cesaria Evora or Kassav, tunes he would hear a lot growing up in a Cape Verdian and Angolan household in Lisbon.

From 2002 to 2008, DJ Djeff was perfecting his DJing skills at various clubs in Portugal and Angola. When he completed his graphic design course in Lisbon in 2008, he headed straight to Luanda, where he’s taken the club circuit by storm, while also honing his skills as a beat maker. But there’s more: DJ Djeff is also the host of Made in Angola on TV Zimbo, an influential TOP 10 music video show in Angola.

DJ Djeff has quickly made a name for himself on Angola’s music and club circuit, landing him a collaboration with Maskarado, a familiar voice – and face – in Angola: Maskarado has become the go-to kuduro MC for all kuduro / house crossovers, collaborating with producers such as Eliei, but also working as an actor with film makers such as Ho Chi Fu.

Despite their busy schedules, the two found time to record this big, big tune. Not a day goes by in Luanda without hearing Elegom Bounsa, we feel sharing it is way overdue! A nova dica pai!

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