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General Information
Angolan culture: when you will visit the country, you
are going to hear a mix of traditional music (semba,
rebita) and more contemporary kizomba and kuduro,
musical genres that have been exported successfully
to other countries. Semba is the Luandan popular
genre with the same roots as samba in Brazil while
rebita comes from the fishermen of Ilha de Cabo, one
of Luanda's poorer districts.
KIZOMBA
is one of the most popular genres of dance
and music created in Angola. Derived directly from
Zouk music and mixed with semba, it is generally
sung in Portuguese. Kizomba has probably been influ-
enced by other dances such as tango and merengue
under the Cuban presence in Angola. The influence of
Angolan kizomba is felt in most Portuguese-speaking
African countries, but also Portugal. The kizomba
dancing style is also known to be very sensual.
Bonga is probably the best known Angolan artist.
Other famous Angolan kizomba musicians such as
Irmãos Verdades, Neide Van-Dúnem, Don Kikas,
Calo Pascoal are also popular in Angola.
Paulo Flores
Bonga
KUDURU:
when you are stucked in the legendary
traffic jams in Luanda, you will probably hear some
pieces of kuduru from the loud candongueiros, the
best promoters of this popular music born in the sub-
urbs of Luanda. The roots of kuduru (or kuduro) can
be traced in the 90’s in Angola. It combines traditional
Angolan kilapanga, semba and zouk with western
electro and African percussions samples. It is a popu-
lar genre in all Portuguese-speaking countries in Afri-
ca as well as in Portugal and more recently in Europe
and Brazil. Very similar to the Brazilian baile funk, the
kuduro genre has been reinvented in Portugal and
gained international popularity. It is characterized as
uptempo, energetic, and danceable.
BONGA
was born Jose Adelino Barcelo de Carvalho
in 1943 in Kipri Angola. He was introduced to music at
a very early age by his father who was accordionist in
a group that played rebita. Inspired by samba, Bonga
formed a group called Kissueia, a Kimbudu word that
refers to the destitution in poor areas.
Finding recognition as an athlete, Bonga left Angola
for Lisbon at the start of the sixties. Under the name
Barcelo de Carvalho, he became Portugal's 400-me-
tre record holder (a title he kept for a decade). Along
with musicians from the Cape Verdean community,
he released the legendary Angola 72 album. Bonga
has a magical voice that symbolises the self-expres-
sion of an exile and speaks directly to our hearts
with extraordinary power. Along the years, Bonga
became familiar with the sounds of other musicians