We still wish we knew Portuguese so we could rap to these hot numbers that Gato Preto delivers over and over again. Their afrofuturistic sound, a mix of Kuduro, Favela House and African Riddims, sets an interesting direction to the future of Kuduro and has quickly won the interest of every self-respecting Kuduro enthusiast. The eclectic genre fusion that Gato Preto sports sets high standards to contemporary music – its creativity and danceability factor is off the charts. Is theirs the future of kuduro as they state?
The duo behind this afrofuturistic project is made up by rapper Gata Misteriosa (Mozambique/Portugal) and producer Lee Bass (Ghana/Germany) who are not short of witty remarks about what their mission as musicians are – to unite for a world with better grooves. In short, Gato Preto had me at their mission statement. In their latest song and video for ‘Barulho’ (engl. noise), they’ve teamed up with a true Brazilian music legend Edu K who’s the lead singer of Defalla, Brazil’s own rock’n’roll Gods. “Barulho” announces their highly anticipated album and European and US tour coming up in 2016.
The video is a proper sci-fi narrative featuring our magic duo of heroes on a quest to save the ancient beats and an antagonist who wants to control the groove of the whole universe. It’s lovely when a band that’s so blissfully eclectic is subtle about its politicality. As their music, the video also signals a genre blend that’s characterised by a juxtaposition of seemingly unfit elements; a kiborg, an enemy in iron suit (so suggestive), tribal dancers dressed as your punk-goth neighbours, fortune telling, and inevitably, mad drumming and banging the voodoo drums. A lot has changed since the emergence of Kuduro in Angola in the 1980s. Gato Preto are now in the driver’s seat, and we say, sure, take us wherever you wanna go. ‘Cause we sure like the direction of it!
VIDEO CREDITS:
Artist: Gato Preto & Edu K
Director: Alex Wurm & Exile Pictures
Production: Jens Damgaard
Styling: Rolf Buck
Hair and make-up: Niusha Narjooh & Nicola Weidemann
