Last year quite around this period of time Kuduro popped up in the hipster blogosphere and took over it in a quite impressive whirlwind manner. Everybody got really excited by both the Buraka Som Sistema EP (released in July 2006) and Frederic Galiano's project. The tracks posted by Fat Planet on October 27th started the thing, alongside that post, dated a month before, and both have been quite a reference as you can see here.
Regular readers of Fat Planet, we played a few tracks in our radio show the days after and then started to search for new music, which brought us to broadcast several mixes in November and December 2006 and then do the Month of Kuduro in February. It's interesting to watch the history of the mp3s tagged kuduro on the Hypemachine and the history on Technorati.
But let's be clear, I'm not saying that nobody talked about Kuduro before Sept-Oct 2006. Actually you can see here, that Dj /Rupture mentioned it in 2005. It's not my goal to determine who was the first one (it could be interesting but I honestly don't really care), I would rather point out that the beginning of a lot of international and hipstery (me included) attention on this music started last year, with a couple posts on blogs here and there.
I'm writing that post for 2 reasons. First, well it's been a year and I thought it might be a good idea to have a look back on this. Second, I've been talking to Wayne&Wax and Maga Bo about it, and they both talked to me like this attention was still pretty strong and important and I feel the inverse.
I'm under the impression that the trend crashed down actually pretty fast a bit before summer 2007. The lack of new music being posted on mp3 blog, seems to be the most important factor to me (check Hypemachine). My experience is that it's more difficult to get new Kuduro than new Baile Funk. Also, the fact that Buraka Som Sistema haven't been playing North America yet (as i know, but maybe they did) would be another reason of a lack of media attention. I tried to book them for Pop MTL 2007, but Petty, the lead singer who seems to blow minds of all the people I talked to or who wrote about it, is 17 years old and still in school, so she won't travel but week-ends. Dancers are supposed to add a lot to the show, so it's quite a big amount of transatlantic flights to cover and don't expect monetary support from the Portugal embassy. Anyway, the way Bonde Do Role sustain attention on Baile Funk (in a good way or a bad way, I'll let you decide), doesn't seem to be the way of BSS for Kuduro.
I'm sure there will be a lot of people out there interested in hearing new stuff and now that Pop 2k7 craaaziness is behind me, I'm thinking of listening to some of the kuduro stuff I stocked and haven't quite been listening to really. But i guess the whole thing I'm trying to say is: where is the new exciting material (ie that appeals to white nerds like myself)? I know there's kuduro production going on in the community of Cape Verde in France, Portugal and elsewhere. I hope there's still things going on in Angola, even though Galianno sounded pretty pessimistic on the phone and the record shop guy where I bought cds in Paris did say the same. I know Dj Manaia is regularly posting mixes with his own remixes and new sounds. But yet, I feel like if things continue this way, we or Paul Devro would have to re-use the same words he used for Hyphy, while introducing kuduro back in Nov 06.
I guess I'm waiting for somebody to start a discussion about this now. Oh and sorry I haven't been posting a lot recently, I was all busy organizing Pop.
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7 commentaires:
interesting points, guillaume. i've been wondering the same -- what happened? why did the kuduro bubble seem to burst? what can it tell us about how such genres suddenly become cool -- never mind how they stay hot?
i suspect, as you suggest, that a lot of it has to do with access. if there's rather little out there, and rather little that's new, there's not much to hype. if, as some have said, kuduro is not really poppin in angola anymore, has it lost some crucial core of activity that would make it resonate in the metropoles?
my brain is too fried too comment beyond: the google link to my 'early' kuduro post is weird.
here's a direct URL
http://www.negrophonic.com/words/archives/archive_2005-m12.php#e282
I've been excited about kuduro since I discovered BSS in late 2006. I've been waiting for more kuduro releases to hit Europe and America. I don't download, so I can definitely relate to Wayne's point about scarcity. I am lucky enough to have a friend picking up CDs for me in Angola right now. I liked a lot of what she shared with me, so I am one person who is definitely still interested in kuduro and where it is going.
IK
IK
i think that, tied to the issue of scarcity, what may have happened to kuduro is sort of a consequence of he way a lot of djs,listeners,bloggers, and readers interact with the music itself. despite the best efforts of most of these folks, a lot of people (and i am sorta informed-guessing here) probably listen to stuff in this 'hipster sphere' BECAUSE it is 'global ghettotech' or whatever. it's the consequence of participating in a musical exchange that, despite (or maybe because of?) its dancefloor-friendliness and the diversity of the music scenes it dabbles in, is at its very core a sociopolitical statement.
the reason i say this is not to criticize, but to point to the way in which a lot of (online) folks encountered this whole scene to begin with, or the way some react to it. i think some hear ten baile funk tracks and say, well that's what baile funk sounds like, what else is there? kuduro! well that's what kuduro sounds like, what else is there? screw! cumbia! juke! baltimore! etc. etc., i know this isn't the most accurate timeline, but i imagine y'all get my point? i think that's the group of folks one of these genres' popularity (over here) sort of rests on.
Hello there,
my name is Toke, I live in Angola, Luanda, where I've been borned.
I've comed here through Likembe blog link.
I'm a adio producer, speaker, and dj everywhere through Luanda's nights.
http://kuduro.podomatic.com
(strait from cd-r street kuduro sellers to your hard drive, the angolan guetho musicians that have no commercial contract but that everybody is listening in the partys, taxis, bus, or in the street - kuduro rulles in luanda's caotic automobile trafic) - Site rebuilding.
I'm a big kuduro collector and I'ved a kuduro site that have been damaged by the server and that I'm rebuilding (slowly as my 256kbps connection allows).
http://kuduro.podomatic.com/
Being kuduro born in Luanda in the early 90's, and in the middle of the heaviest african civil war that will end only in 2002, it was very hard to produce and present kuduro records and live shows until six years ago.
The things are changing for best, now days, but what is really happening is that only a few of angolans kuduro entertainners have a professional record contract and some international projection.
By the other way, angolans still remains crazy by kuduro scene and dance, and all over Luanda city, cd-rs are popuping from the big guethos youth, whom are in a prolific way recording studio demos, or home demos, that sometimes become huge national hits.
But, as the majority of those local artists do not have any contract, they do not have structure to expand they work world wide.
Anyway, this artists only profits come from local live shows that unespected succes provides, and by hand to hand selling of cd-rs, once that they are ripped off by angolan radios that do not pay any incoming; by local djs who grew a international fame without any credits to the real authors of the beats; and by europeans and non europeans djs, as we all know, due to the lake of information and blabla... at the same time taking avantage and promoting guetho angolan kids. That's great! view the state of things.
Proudly and warrior angolan kuduro moovement do not considere Lisbon kuduro, as Helder Rei do kuduro, as other thing than pure robery.
We, angolans indulgently laught if someone speaks about cap verdian kuduro!
"Galliano kuduro" (lol) - it has the merit of promote the angolan style, with some deviances, and non kuduro beats, but it's a great job. It 's a great job for him too, not only for the angolan music that he use at a "no price".
There is only one kuduro beat and moovement, and it is Luanda's almost five millions habitants that mark that beat with an incredible fast and caotic car trafic, popping kuduro all over the town, all over the day with the naif smile of guetho childrens.
Today, angolan guetho kuduro moovement is strong in Luanda, and more and more youngs achieve a minimal record contract.
By the stylistic point of view, now days guetho kuduro it's going more mczided than the old kuduro, whom where more instrumental than spoked.
Mainstream angolan kuduro artist as Dog Murras, Sebém, Puto Prata and others have allready notest that word spoked inflection.
Thank you for your time and excuses for the lenght of the explanation in these non corrected almost english words.
Anyway, for me it's amazing and very interesting to read your opinions and reflections about this style of music from my homeland!
All the best to you,
hope everything's going right.
;)
Toke
Luanda-Angola
fairylife@gmail.com
http://masalacism.blogspot.com/2008/04/statement-about-kuduro-angolan-point-of.html#links
Like your blog.
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