On a kuduro map of Luanda, Marçal is unavoidable, and within Marçal, Kamone is a mainstay. We first met him at TV Marçal, and this picture was taken by his house, a couple of blocks away. Kids passed by screaming his name out loud, singing his songs, then stayed around to watch the photo shoot…. foreigners are not exactly a common sight around there, let alone foreigners with a camera hanging with one of the bairro’s kuduro princes.
Kamone is one of the friendliest and most easy going kudurists we met in Luanda. He is very eager to spread his music outside of Angola, s from the first time we met he’s been very interested in Akwaaba’s work. As we’ve seen so many times in Angola and Africa, there are so few – if any – opportunities for most of these musicians outside of their land, so once we establish enough trust, we can start spreading the music.
Across Africa we’ve encountered many hip hop artists favoring the same bling bling image they are exposed to via US hip hop videos: lots of big cars, lots of shiny rims, and when there are no cars handy, lots of logos and shiny clothes.
THANKFULLY, kuduro artists have been sticking to the raw aesthetics of the bairros they hail from. Here’s an example by Vagabanda, from the Marçal neighborhood of Rangel, an area filled with kudurists. Video by Ho Chi Fu, the top music video director in Angola at the moment.
Heroy and Puto Mira form Vagabanda, a duo on top of kuduro in Angola. They’ve traveled all over the country, and are now looking at trips to Brazil and Portugal. You can find some of their videos online, but their actual music is still not very accessible – at least not legally. But it’s coming very soon here on Akwaaba. Heroy has been doing kuduro for about 8 years now, but success really came when he met Puto Mira and formed Vagabanda. Suga, Vou le Dar, M Yoyo… were all hymns in their own time here in Luanda. Especially in the barrios of Rangel and in Mira’s home, Marçal. We spent a lot of time there with the band, also meeting some of the DJs they collaborate with, DJ Fofu, DJ Kobe, DJ Lango, Bobo-G… cool cats with lots and lots and lots of kuduro beats.
The video to Suga has such poor sound, it makes me sick… so here’s proper audio: Suga – Vagabanda & Agre-G
