Portuguese music includes many different styles and genres, as a result of its history. These can be broadly divided into classical music, traditional/folk music and popular music and all of them have produced internationally successful acts, with the country seeing a recent expansion in musical styles, especially in popular music.
The music of Angola has been shaped both by wider musical trends and by the political history of the country. while Angolan music has also influenced the music of the other Lusophone countries and Latin American countries. In turn, the music of Angola was instrumental in creating and reinforcing "angolanidade", the Angolan national identity. The capital and largest city of Angola — Luanda — is home to a diverse group of styles including kazukuta, semba, kizomba and kuduro. Just off the coast of Luanda is Ilha do Cabo, home to an accordion and harmonica-based style of music called rebita.
Kuduro is a type of music and dance from Angola. It is characterized as uptempo, energetic, and danceable. Kuduro was developed in Luanda, Angola, in the late 1980s. Producers sampled traditional carnival music like soca and zouk béton from the Caribbean to Angola, techno and accordion playing from Europe and laid this around a fast four-to-the-floor beat.
Alain Macklovitch, known professionally as A-Trak, is a Canadian DJ, record producer, and record executive. He came to prominence in the late 2000s as an international club DJ and remix artist, known for incorporating highly technical turntable skills and scratching into his genre-spanning work. He is also president of the record label Fool's Gold, which was founded in 2007, and is credited for developing the careers of artists such as Kid Cudi, Danny Brown, and Flosstradamus. Among other collaborative projects, he is part of the DJ duo Duck Sauce with Armand Van Helden and was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for their song "Barbra Streisand".
Samuel Martins Torres Santiago Mira, better known by his stage name Sam the Kid, is a Portuguese rapper and producer from Chelas, in the civil parish of Marvila, Lisbon.
"Sound of Kuduro" is a kuduro song by Buraka Som Sistema featuring DJ Znobia, M.I.A., Saborosa and Puto Prata, from their album Black Diamond released in 2008. The song was recorded in Angola, and a video for the song was recorded in 2007. "Sound of Kuduro" also appeared on the special edition of M.I.A.'s Kala. Pitchfork Media placed the song at number 97 on their best tracks of 2008 list.
Slimmy, born Paulo Fernandes, is a Portuguese singer/songwriter who combines various genres of rock, especially electro rock. He has an irreverent visual look and an addictive musical style and has achieved mainstream success after an appearance on the Portuguese soap opera Morangos com Açúcar. His music has also appeared in one episode of CSI. His song, "Self Control," has been featured on Sky Sports.
Black Diamond is Buraka Som Sistema's second album which was released in 2008. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2009.
Gary McCann, known professionally as Caspa, is a dubstep music producer from West London.
The following is a list of the MTV Europe Music Award winners and nominees for Best Portuguese Act.
FabricLive.49 is a 2009 album by Buraka Som Sistema. The album was released as part of the FabricLive Mix Series.
"Bang" is a song and single by rapper/dancer Rye Rye featuring M.I.A. It was recorded in 2008 and appears on the deluxe version of her 2012 album Go! Pop! Bang!. It was released in 2009 on N.E.E.T. Recordings and Interscope Records. The single was released first, followed by an EP of remixes, Bang – The Remixes, which includes remixes by Buraka Som Sistema and DJ Sega. The song appears in the films Fast & Furious and Step Up 3D and in the episode "The Sorkin Notes" of the TV-series Entourage.
Les Jumo is a French singing and dancing duo with strong African influences formed in 2008 by the twin brothers known as Docta Lova La Friandiz and Linho de Gaucho L'International born 16 October 1985. They used the shortened Docta & Linho for some credits.
Elizio, aka Mister ODC is a singer-songwriter born in Angola in 1979, of Cape Verdean origin. Revealed with the title 10 fois, 100 fois featuring Perle Lama in 2003, Elizio quickly meets his first big solo success with Melodia which leads him to the top of the zouk scene. The artist then connects the tubes and expands his musical universe with more than 70 titles, ranging from general dancefloor with sounds like Bad Man on Kizomba with Angel or Make love on tempo in particular, through the kuduro as Sabi Di Mas.
Enchufada is a Portuguese independent record label based in Lisbon. Founded in 2006 by Buraka Som Sistema band members Branko and Kalaf Ângelo, the label originally served as a creative platform for their early musical experiments, which fused Angolan kuduro with European electronic music genres. This aesthetic defined the early years of the imprint and set the stylistic tone for its future releases.
João Barbosa, commonly known as Branko, is a Portuguese DJ and producer who first became known as part of the Buraka Som Sistema.
Karla Rodrigues, known professionally as Blaya, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese singer and dancer.
Nateshia Lindsay, better known by her stage name Ms. Thing, is a Jamaican dancehall vocalist and deejay. She is best known for providing vocals on the international hit song "Dude" by Beenie Man, which charted in Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Engracia Domingos da Silva, known professionally as Pongo, is an Angolan-Portuguese singer and songwriter.
Gelson Caio Manuel Mendes, better known as Nagrelha, was an Angolan musician. He was a pioneer of the kuduro genre and one of its best-known stars.
