Os Lambas is a name that already pops up if you do a quick search for kuduro. You can probably find some bootleg mp3s here and there, but for the most part, Luanda is where you’ll hear them. We met them here in Angola, and they took us to their home studio in the Sambizanga barrio. This neighborhood is a stronghold for kuduro, and Os Lambas are now one of its fiercest representants. They showed us their mic skills and recorded a short freestyle, until we release more of their highly additctive music.
It’s time for an update: We’ve been in Angola for 2 weeks now, meeting many musicians both old and new, and mesmerized by the diversity of music here. What strikes us most is the newer kuduro, which stands somewhere between hip hop, techno and traditional African drumming. You can hear a sample and read more about it here.
We’re also looking for classic 1960sa and 1970s Angolan music, particularly the semba which served as a musical backdrop for the charged political and social messages of the last decade in colonial Angola. Today we spent the day with Carlitos Vieira Dias, son of Liceu Vieira Dias, one of the founders of Ngola Ritmos. For most Angolans, Ngola Ritmos epitomizes the strife musical resistance. Carlitos’ father for instance was sent to jail for a decade. Carlitos founded a number of bands and participated in many more, two of the most famous being Os Merengues and Africa Show.
Carlitos took me to Mangalha’s house in the Barrio Operario, also a historically charged part of town, a place where many artists lived and performed. We went through his ridiculous record collection, over 23,000 records in total, among which many, many Angolan gems, in various states of decay. Until we can all enjoy the music, enjoy these classic covers. Much, much more here.
Finally… in Luanda, surrounded by pounding kuduro!!! We’ve been fiending for kuduro for the past few years, ever since seeing super lo-quality kuduro dancing videos on youtube sometime in 2006. And here we are, sitting at a table with a half dozen groups, MCs, producers, enthusiastic young kids eager to get their music out. On the picture above, you can see Nagrelha of Os Lambas, Gelú-Six, Os Mais Potentes, Tanya MB and F4. Agua G, Dred Man-Gi and a couple others left before we could take a picture, but rest assured, we’ve got much more than photos coming up.
Nnamdi Moweta is checking in on Benjamin Lebrave, live from Luanda, Angola, where he’s scouting for kuduro, semba + much more. Tune in to Nnamdi’s show Afrodicia today Saturday from 2 to 4pm PST, 90.7FM or www.kpfk.org, interview is between 2:30 and 3pm.
At last! Eden Roots Liberation’s album Genesis comes out this month. The Sierra Leonian duo recorded at Manjul’s Humble Ark studio in Bamako, and the album has only been released in Mali and Sierra Leone. Classic Wailers style African reggae, enjoy! The album is available for download in the iTunes store.
