Kuduro is a musical dance genre originally from Angola.

Kuduro appeared in the late 80s, as a dance. Over time, it has evolved into a musical genre, that resembles the Afro-house style, with some mixtures of electronic instruments and traditional Angolan folklore. Music is characterized by its peculiar use of breaks and funk, widely used in the 1980s to create melodies, and by the use of explicit lyrics.

The first protagonists of kuduro are Rei Yeba and Bruno de Castro. At that time, kuduro was only danced, and the style still didn’t have a name yet. Years later, in the mid-90s, Tony Amado, with his dancers Mucthactha and as his animator Sebem, gave the name of kuduro to the dance style for the first time.

The name of the dance (kuduro) referred to a peculiar movement in which the dancers seem to have hard hips, simulating an aggressive and agitated way of dancing similar to the strokes of Van damme. According to Tony Amado, self-proclaimed creator of kuduro and known as the King of Kuduro, the idea of ​​the dance arose after seeing Jean Claude Van Damme’s film, Kickboxer (1989), in which the actor appears in a bar, all drunk, dancing in a very “hard” and unusual style for that time.

Currently, kuduro is no longer what it was before, as the dancers have been growing and implementing new steps in search of other styles. Today’s kuduro is a fusion between the original kuduro and the afro-house, and this fusion could be called modern Kuduro.

Artists

Some artists of this modern kuduro, with national and international visibility,  are Puto prata, Preto show, Neru Americano, Scro Que Cuia, Titica, Noite Dia, Os Santiego, Os Moikanos, Fábio Dance, Negrinhos, and others. In addition to these artists, there are others who, despite being part of the new generation, still preserve the characteristics of traditional kuduro, and they are: Rei Loy, Os Lambas, Panamera, Flor de Rais, As Palancas, Cast of Peace and many others.

Outside of Luanda, we can also identify other artists from Benguela who sing kuduro, and who, despite not having national visibility, have amazing talent and skills: Ego do Tchan, Kenny Kenny, ML, a Dama Mira, Os Bikwary, Os Kotchongos, Mendes Brada, among others.