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!
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.
Michel recorded Atchêgbê between Cotonou, Benin, and Paris, France. Too often, African artists cannot afford to hire a full ensemble of musicians, but on Agoh, you can hear right away that Michel is well surrounded. He’s worked as trombone player for many African musicians, lately Tiken Jah Fakoly, and has strong connections with talented African musicians all over the place. The combination of classic salsa with singing in Fon, French and some Spanish is quite tasty, hope you enjoy! The album is available in the iTunes music store.[:fr]
Michel a enregistré Atchêgbê entre Cotonou, Bénin et Paris, France. Trop souvent, les artistes africains ne peuvent se permettre d’engager un ensemble de musiciens, mais sur Agoh au contraire, vous entendrez immédiatement que Michel est bien entouré. Il a travaillé comme trombone pour de nombreux artistes africains, dernièrement avec Tiken Jah Fakoly, et a des relations avec des musiciens africains talentueux un peu partout. La combinaison de salsa classique et de chants en Fon, Français et Espagnol est assez savoureuse, on espère que apprécierez !
Michel recorded Atchêgbê between Cotonou, Benin, and Paris, France. Too often, African artists cannot afford to hire a full ensemble of musicians, but on Agoh, you can hear right away that Michel is well surrounded. He’s worked as trombone player for many African musicians, lately Tiken Jah Fakoly, and has strong connections with talented African musicians all over the place. The combination of classic salsa with singing in Fon, French and some Spanish is quite tasty, hope you enjoy! The album is available in the iTunes music store.[:]
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.
