Kuduro: Electronic Music of Angola - Fight The Power

Kuduro is the electronic dance music of a generation born and raised during Angola's traumatic and protracted civil war. It started life on Angola's margins, in the clubs and ghettos of the nation's capital, Luanda, before being co-opted by the government to become the official, state sanctioned sound of post-war Angola. Broadcaster and music obsessive Edward George takes us on a journey through the social history of Kuduro. He looks at what this insistently joyous club music can tell us about the relationship of dance music to the machinations of state power, and what is left unsaid both during and in the aftermath of the civil war. In this second episode, Edward follows the development of Kuduro through the early 2000s, exploring how it began to intersect with the nascent Angolan hip hop of the time. Through the influence of studios such as Walter Laton’s Jupson studio and key artists like MC Kappa and Ikonoklasta, this new hybrid form began challenging state authority and causing controversy through its lyrical radicalism. Angolan-Portuguese producer Pedro Coquenão, aka Batida, who was born in Luanda, joins Edward to discuss the development of Kuduro and its relevance for a young generation of Angolans. Presented by Edward George Produced by Alannah Chance This series was commissioned for Counterflows Festival 2021 / 2022 For more podcasts, films and articles by Counterflows head here: https://counterflows.com/