Kuduro music: the sound of the hard-ass
By Javier Duque
Do you still think that hip-hop, break-dance or even ‘Krump’ are the latest and coolest music dances? You know what? You know nothing! Keep reading and you’ll know what the new game is.
The rhythm that is breaking every dance floor and the ghetto across the world comes from Angola, Africa.
With a clear influence of South African dances like Kwaito, aboriginal dancing, urban break-dance and its own originality, Kuduro has revolutionised the fields of dance and music.
Kuduro is fast spreading all across the globe, but has managed to keep its roots and identity intact and that makes it even more interesting.
To know what Kuduro is made of, put in a mixer some dancehall and ragamuffin, some favela funk, hip-hop, a little of the best London dubstep, a taste of cool electronic music and bring it to the neighbourhoods of Luanda, Angola’s capital city.
Buraka Som Sistema, a Portuguese-based music band with members from the UK, Angola, Brazil and Portugal itself, is responsible for the popularity and the worldwide spreading of this music and dance style.
Their first album, Black Diamond was characterized by strength, attitude and originality. It provoked great curiosity in the now trendy music genre.
The phenomenom reminds me of what happened when the British band Asian Dub Foundation broke up into the scene 15 years ago.
Threatened by capitalism?
But Kuduro dance and music isn’t just about a band. Buraka Som Sistema is a really good ambassador, but its best agent and real creator is the people from the ‘hood’.
Reporter Javier Duque, street credibility.
Therefore, when something new happens, some interesting questions arise.
Now that the movement has trespassed the frontiers and it's sensationalising the western middle class people, is Microsoft, Coca-Cola or Nike going to include Kuduro in its next advertising campaign?
So far, Kuduro has maintained its originality, but big companies could distort it. The advertising market is faced with tough competition, and generating novel ideas from the ghettos could mean future profits.
However, as Kuduro has been born in such an environment, authenticity and long life are in a way guaranteed. The way it will succeed depends on the current artists practising it without letting capitalism damage it.
For the Skinflint editorial staff, Kuduro is one of the freshest and mos creative things that have happened in the world of music and dance in the last decade.
its survival and uniqueness depend on the level of interference that the system is capable to reach.
But one thing is for sure: offices will never beat the streets.
