Artist Profile

Buraka Som Sistema

Label:
Agent: Belinda Law

Buraka Som Sistema consists of producers Lil' John, Riot and Conductor,
and MC Kalaf, but count amongst their ranks an extended family of
dancers and MCs from around the globe. Every face is a valued part of
their limb-enslaving hybrid assault of native Angolan Kuduro and the
roughest globe-scoured ghetto-funk riddims.
 
In just two years the group has released a slew of breakthrough singles,
torched the blogosphere with their MIA featuring viral video ‘Sound Of
Kuduro’, and wowed audiences in more than 13 countries with the mesmerizing
dance-driven spectacle at the heart of kuduro. No wonder Fader mag
dubbed their live feast, “One of the most jaw-droppingly effusive club
moments we’ve experienced.”
 
Now with their debut long-player, ‘Black Diamond,’ finally set to drop,
escalating infamy is set to erupt into worldwide domination. With powerful
comrades in the likes of Diplo and Switch, and collaborators in Kano, MIA
and Hot Chip - to name but a few - they’ve become the driving heartbeat
of the headline-grabbing global ghetto-funk revolution. Together they’ve
destroyed dated preconceptions of world music, with cross-continental
collisions responsible for many of the gnarliest club cuts in recent years.
 
It was early 2005 when school friends Joao Barbosa and Rui Pite, aka
producers Lil John and DJ Riot, began pushing their exploits in distinctly
West African direction. In their shared ‘Enchufuda’ (English translation:
Plugged In) studio in Lisbon suburb Buraca, they were soon joined by
fellow DJ/producer Andro Carvalho, aka Conductor, and long-term
wordsmith cohort Kalaf, the Angolan ex-pat MC. The foursome set about
cultivating ideas, a sound, and eventually songs. They sought to harness
the unique shuddering party rhythms of kuduro, popularised by the large
Angolan-immigrant population, all the while keeping a close eye on the
grimey, teched-up, and crunked-out urban happenings further afield.
 
Before long the crew was accosted by various MCs keen to ride the
distinctive beats being churned out. One was youngster Petty, whose
emphatic slogans would line the track that would take their sounds
overground. ‘Yah!’ was a four and half minute ride of sparse 808 hits and
infectious warbling bass line with Petty’s unremitting lines punctuating
the off-beat grooves with simplistic brilliance. Quickly picked up by taste-
making disc spinners the world over, the track became something of a
sensation with over 1 million viewers of a video that cost fifty euros and
garnered FACT Magazine’s 12” of the Year award.
 
The song launched Kuduro into a foreign spotlight for the first time and
allied BSS with an emerging web-savvy clique of disparately located global
acts taking exotic urban soundtracks to the masses. Alongside artists like
Brazil’s Bonde Do Role, Britain’s MIA, and America’s Diplo, cross-pollinating
ghetto-sounds were uniting hips in motion, and making world music the
coolest it has ever been.
 
An explosive multi-decked live show was assembled, involving physics-
defying dance troupes and rotating rapid-fire MCs, exporting the unhinged
mayhem across the world. More music, including the rampaging cavalcade
‘Sound Of Kuduro’, featuring number one fan-girl MIA, would help earn
them MTV Europe Award nominations, invitations into Damon Albarn’s
revered Africa Express project, and ensure that whether it be in high-brow
broadsheet features or ram-jammed club scenes, Buraka look set to be
one of 2009’s most talked-about acts.
 
In between globe-trotting trips exporting their unequivocal sound far and
wide, the group set-about work for their debut album for the Fabric label.
While Kalaf admits that their primary starting point is always, “making
people dance like hell, sweat like hell and scream like hell,” there’s more to
‘Black Diamond’ than may meet the eye. The title is a reference to the
inherent corruption in the oil and diamond businesses, subjects close to
home, and one of various cultural dialogues that take place amongst their
rowdy collisions. Kuduro music itself came about as a response to
Angola's tempestuous and uncertain social and political climates -
recurring themes in the long-player. Present also is a message of hope, as
Angola begins to move away from its dark political past. And indicative of
the record’s boundary-smashing appeal, it was recorded in a variety
locations, from their native Portugal and Angola, to a variety of London
studio hotspots.
 
Tracks like ‘Skank & Move’ with Kano roar with an unruly bass-quake only
possible in the post-grime era. Baile kingpin Deize Tigrona brings the
Brazilian nastiness funk carioca-style on ‘Aqui Para Vocês’, nodding to
BSS’ South American allies, whilst Angolan scud-missile Pongolove is one
of the various spitters to showcase the irresistibly stark, hypnotic charms
of their trademark sound on ‘Kalemba’. It’s an album that’s as inclusive as
it is fiercely driven and focused. Buraka have a mission completed.
They’ve successfully taken one of planet earth’s most exciting and
previously underexposed dance phenomenons and rebirthed it with the
ferocity and fun to capture the whole world’s imagination. ‘The Black
Diamond’ is their manifesto, where’s your vote?
 
For more information please contact:
Beth Drake beth@toastpress.com / 73261200