My name is Catherine Barnes, and I’ll be contributing a series of articles to this blog on Angolan semba and Brazilian samba. I’m a percussionist and armchair ethnomusicologist fascinated by all rhythms African and of the African diaspora. I recently returned from studying samba in Rio de Janeiro, which is also where I encountered Angolan semba music for the first time. I became interested in the similarities and differences in the two styles, and what better place to explore them than here at Akwaaba Music?
Angolan semba and Brazilian samba share a common ancestor: the massemba dance from central Angola. Known as umbigada, or “belly-bumping” in Portuguese, the dance is characterized by a hip thrust meant to mimic the act of procreation. (source)
Here’s a Brazilian umbigada group performing at the First Forum in Defense of Popular Traditions in Piracicaba, Brazil:
Now check out this recent video of couples dancing semba in Luanda, Angola. Notice the “belly-bumping” movements at 1:40.
Although samba is usually danced without a partner, samba da gafieira, or ballroom samba, has become very popular, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Seu Jorge even featured it in the video for his hit song “Carolina” :
Keep checking back for more information on the similarities and differences between Angolan semba and Brazilian samba!
“The 12th installment of the FADER/Southern Comfort 7-inch series is an upbeat one, with MNDR’s electronic fizz pop and loud and grimy kuduro straight from Angola’s Os Mais Potentes. We’ve been a fan of MNDR’s hyper energy for a long time and have long loved the releases on Akwaaba Music, so to pair two exclusive tracks from the realest dance music makers from New York and Africa, respectively, together on one 7-inch is a pretty exciting and special thing. We’ve also got some wild Egyptian-inspired artwork by Keren Richter on the cover.”
You can download both tracks for free on the Fader’s website. And if you want a copy of the vinyl, leave a comment on their page!
Luanda’s emerging bourgeoisie is getting served by a young generation of designers… read on here. The photo reminds us of this fantastic book about the Sapeurs in Brazzaville.
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 fantaaastic 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:
Dive into the archives of the RTP [national Portuguese TV]. The idea was to select images that illustrate the hidden story behind “Bazuka”. We [DJ Mpula & Radio Fazuma team] hand-picked historic archival footage, added some contemporary images we collected, and footage from our documentary “E Dreda Ser Angolano”.
Lots more to say, but our Portuguese isn’t quite cutting it… and Google translate is very, very little help on this one. But more importantly, dig the video!!
