Yes, it’s been a slow process… we’ve held onto the remixes for months, squeezing them into our pipeline, and at last, we are happy to present to you this beautiful EP, which came out today exclusively on Beatport!!! We’ll post a bunch of info about the fine people who contributed to this EP, so stay tuned… meanwhile, check out this fancy little player below:

At last… Akwaaba unleashes a wild collection of bangers from Luanda, Angola. Some of the big names are on there, Puto Prata, Noite e Día, Zoca Zoca, but some new comers (Os Mais Potentes, Figura) and total newbies too (F4, Gelú-Six). The album is available for purchase in the iTunes store, and you can listen to it on Fairtilizer.

Akwaaba Music, Mad Decent & Fairtilizer are happy to bring you the Ze Bula Remix Contest by Figura and DJ MJ, off of our Angolan kuduro compilation “Akwaaba Sem Transporte”.

THE RULES

1. Download the acapella HERE (140 bpm)

2. Remix the song the way you like!

3. Upload your remix on Fairtilizer and name it Ze Bula (your name Remix) and add “Akwaaba Music remix contest” in the tags.
Note: You have to register to Fairtilizer to be able to upload a track (it takes 30 seconds and it’s free)

4. The winner will be selected by Akwaaba Music.

Prize:
Best remix will be released on Akwaaba Music + get bonus goodies package by Akwaaba, Mad Decent
 & Fairtilizer.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT REMIX: September 15th

Everyone has their favorite site to listen to music and check out new artists… Myspace still deserves respect, so we created a page for Akwaaba Sem Transporte, our Angolan kuduro compilation.

To balance out our kuduro release, Akwaaba Sem Transporte, here is a beautiful collection of Carlos Lamartine’s recordings, from the mid 1960s til 1975. He was a member of several bands, including Os Aguias Reais, and was backed up by some of Luanda’s best conjuntos: Os Merengues, African Show.

The album comes out August 18 on iTunes..

Derek Rath, host of Cosmic Barrio every Sunday on KPFK, invites Akwaaba founder Benjamin Lebrave to talk about his recent trip to Angola, Angolan music, African music, Akwaaba, and more of that good stuff. Tune in at 6pm this Sunday July 12, KPFK 90.7fm in LA, online at www.kpfk.org, download here or just listen, right here:

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Puto Mira (Vagabanda) at DJ Kobe’s studio in Marçal

Heroy (Vagabanda) at DJ Kobe’s studio in Marçal

DJ Stan & DJ Fofo’s studio in Marçal

DJ Fofo in the studio

On our travels throughout Africa, we’ve seen plenty of home studios where coupé décalé, hiplife and now kuduro hits are made. The studios are usually tiny, the PCs tend to crash a lot (what else is new), the speakers scream and the saturated bass rumbles. And singers, rappers flock to these studios to record songs, usually for $100 or so per track depending on the DJ and the country.

In Luanda, there are plenty of kuduro DJs, but many of them, and many of the more successful ones, live in Rangel and Marçal: DJ Fofu (DJ Fofeira) & DJ Stan, Dj Kobe & DJ Hernany, DJ Prole, DJ Bobo G, DJ Buda, Killamu… the list could go on. In the photos above, you can see the largest kuduro studio we saw, DJ Kobe’s spot, which he built inside a metal shipping container. It comes equipped with AC and… a bed, for happy ending studio sessions!

DJ Fofu’s setup is more typical: blue neon light, a large mirror to give the impression that 6 people are not crammed in 2 square meters… Every single time we went to the studio, there were a handful of kudurists waiting to record. Like a doctor’s office. Doors open at 8am, and Fofu and Stan keep at it until about 10pm every day. Plus DJ gigs on the week end, which rarely end before dawn… so it’s a busy schedule for these cats. And you’ll take notice when you listen to recent kuduro tracks, a “DJ Stan” vocoder or “DJ FOFEIRA” shout is almost mandatory for any respectable kuduro album!

DJ Killamu and Mestre Ara form Guetto Produções, a fully independent studio with some of the biggest names in kuduro. This picture was taken outside the studio, at Killamu’s house in Rangel. Rangel is a municipio famous for its kudurists and DJs, kids flock from all over Luanda to record in studios like Killamu’s. Now this guy… anybody who’s listened to kuduro should know about him. He’s been around for a decade, has made beats for the biggest names in kuduro, Noite Día, Puto Prata, and now a HUGE hit by Big Nelo and Vagabanda. Killamu’s production is more minimal and a little more crossover than most, he uses more synths, and has a pretty clean sound… at least as clean as Angolan kuduro goes!