Maybe you haven’t heard yet, but Kuduro is taking over.
The grimey, limb-twitching music adopted by the global ghetto-funk DJ/producer team Buraka Som Sistema has been blasting out of stereos worldwide, thanks in part to the runaway success of “Sound of Kuduro.” The song, which features M.I.A., DJ Znobia – one of the foremost DJs of the genre – Saborosa, and Puto Prata, was named one of Pitchfork’s Best Songs of 2008, and has wowed audiences worldwide with its mesmerizing dance-driven intensity.
Now with Buraka Som Sistema’s debut long-player,
Black Diamond, about to drop, escalating infamy is set to erupt into worldwide domination.
Tracks like “Skank & Move,” with British MC, 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, while Angolan scud-missile Pongolove is one of the various spitters to showcase the irresistibly stark, hypnotic charms of their trademark sound on “Kalemba (Wegue Wegue).”
Comprised of producers Lil’ John, Riot and Conductor, and MC Kalaf, but with an extended family of dancers and MCs from around the globe, Buraka Som Sistema make music that kicks and pulses and spits with a kind of urban multiculturalism that can only be found in modern globalized society, one in which beats and languages and culture blow over political borders as easily as the wind. “Yes, you are in London, but it feels like Luanda, or Lisbon. It’s ugly, and embodies the beauty of the pure and the raw,” says Kalaf in “New Africas Pt.1,” a song that exemplifies this exchange and intersection of culture that Buraka Som Sistema have so perfectly encapsulated.
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. But those are just a few of the various cultural dialogues that take place among their rowdy beats. Kuduro music itself came about as a response to Angola’s tempestuous and uncertain social and political climates – recurring themes in the long-player – but present also is a message of hope, as Angola begins to move away from its dark political past.
It’s this inclusiveness, this overarching love of rhythm and beats and dancing, that ensures that whether it be in high-brow broadsheet features or jammed club scenes, Buraka look set to be one of the most talked-about acts or 2009. They’ve successfully taken one of the most exciting and previously underexposed dance phenomena and rebirthed it with the ferocity and fun to capture the whole world’s imagination.
Black Diamond is their manifesto, where does your allegiance lie?
Check out the video to "Sound of Kuduro" here.
"...one of the most jaw-droppingly effusive club moments I’ve experienced." -
The FADER, Gen F
"Black Diamond is one of the fiercest dance records in recent memory." -
Pitchfork (rating 7.9)
"Cats like Buraka Som Sistema are killing it at the moment. The amount of original attitude and energy coming out of this style of dance music is heavy. You can't not shake to the percussive rhythm." -
XLR8R
“Out of Angola, made in Portugal. Irresistibly danceable, universally understandable.” -
Plan B
“Black Diamond is one of the most exciting albums to drop in a long time.” -
Clash
“Championed by pioneering DJ-producer Diplo, this Lisbon trio may be the finest fruits yet of his mission to popularise the global dance underground” -
Observer
“A startlingly brilliant debut”-
Observer Music Monthly
“One of the most exciting and innovative dance acts of the year” -
NME
“It’s rare that you’ll come across an act that not only captures the zeitgeist, but defines the shape of things to come.” -
IDJ
“The most important album you’ll hear all year.” -
IDJ 
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Buraka Som Sistema Release Black Diamond in North America on April 7
R.E.M. to Release "Accelerate" & Tour North America