Buraka Som Sistema, Son Rompe Pera, Malphino, Bushbby, BCLIP, and Sabor a Mi

With a name based roughly around the Portuguese translation of Buraka Sound System, Buraka Som Sistema was formed around the collaboration of João Barbosa and Rui Pité, who were both producers for the Cool Train Crew collective. Along with Kalaf Ângelo, a vocalist who had worked with the Cool Train Crew a number of times, they were interested in putting together a band to play kuduro, an Angolan style of music that fused the sounds of Soca music with house and techno. At first, Buraka Som Sistema was the name of the club night that the trio put together to spread the word about kuduro music, and it was there that they met Andro Carvalho, a hip-hop producer actually hailing from Angola, in 2006.

Carvalho was the missing piece of the puzzle, and soon after they met the four-piece turned Buraka Som Sistema from a club night into a fully-fledged band, turning in staggering live sets at clubs and small festivals all around their native Portugal. Their first limited release E.P, September’s “From Buraka To The World” sold out its run almost immediately, leading the band to put some extra tracks on it and release it as their debut album soon afterwards. By 2007, they’d gone global, playing Glastonbury Festival and collaborating with M.I.A for their track “Sound Of Kuduro”. By 2008 the band had signed a record deal with Sony BMG, and ever since then, they’ve remained one of the most acclaimed acts in Portuguese music. With an MTV Europe Music Award to their name, along with a number one single in Spain and a Gold record for their 2008 album “Black Diamond”, Buraka Som Sistema come highly recommended.