Music, Style & Culture

Buraka Som Sistema: “We Like To Be Challenged”

Here’s what happened when we caught up with the boys…

Originating from Angola, Lisbon has been awash with the ‘Sound Of Kuduro’, Buraka Som Sistema playing a central part in being the driving force behind this scene. They’ve collaborated with MIA, DJ Znobia and a whole host of rappers, encompassing electro, dance, baile funk with kuduro beats to name but a few and have a London show coming up before they lock themselves in the studio to work on new material. Here’s what happened when we caught up with the boys…

For our readers that aren’t familiar with you guys, how would you describe your music in five words?
Seven words - "It can't get more global than this!"

It’s been a couple of years since the release of your (quite brilliant) debut album, 'Black Diamond'. What have you been up to since?
We have been touring around the world with our live band, releasing singles under Buraka name or individually and blessing our followers with some dope mixtapes and club nights.

Although your influences are quite apparent, Angolan, baile funk, kuduro , hip hop, dance etc - are there any unusual, not so obvious inspiration that has shaped your musical style?
Hot girls, bad movies and good restaurants – not in this particular order.

With your London show coming up, what can attendees expect?
Good, energetic club bangers from us and our Lisbon friends that we're gonna bring along – we're gonna party like we party on our hood!

Collaborations seem key in what you do, working with a lot of different artists and MCs – how do you come to a decision as to who to work with and approach?
We like to be challenged by other artists. We love simple and organic collaboration with people that can take us out of our creative comfort zone and together look for that spark that will help us to bring out the best musically.

We hear you’ll be taking some time out to work on new material. No doubt it’ll be one big party! Are you all particular about the way the music comes, the process? And are there any interesting collaborations lined up?
So far we've spent some time on the lab with Sao Paulo owns Mixhell and Stereotyp from Vienna, there are more collaborations lined up but we would like them to be a surprise – but we won’t stop our guests for Tweeting – news will be coming up on our digital platforms.

Having worked with MIA, and remixed on her latest EP, are there any future plans to make sweet music with her?
Our recording process is very organic and we are now spending some time with people we didn’t work with… but we never know, the only thing we know for sure is that we haven't finished working on the album yet.

Who has been your favourite artist to collaborate with and is there anyone you’d like to work with?
We don’t wanna sound too politically correct but we enjoyed working with all of our guests to date, and for the future if anyone can link us with Andre 3000 we would appreciate that.

And finally, what is playing on your sound system at the moment?
Only Buraka new beats.

Buraka Som Sistema will be playing XOYO, London, on Saturday 29th January.