Buraka Som Sistema
What can we expect from Buraka Som Sistema in 2009? We’ve got tons of gigs, live shows and DJ sets that are going to take up almost all our time. We got some European shows – in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, France and Belgium – then we’re going to SXSW, Japan and then back to the States to Coachella. We’re doing a three-week tour in America after Coachella that ends in New York at the Bowery Ballroom that we’re very excited about. That pretty much takes us into the festival season. I don’t think we’ll have any vacations until December. We’re also doing some remixes: a remix for Grayskul on a track that features Sizzla, and a remix that we’re just finishing for Brodinski and Yuksek for a joint project of theirs.
Who else do you think is going to be big in 2009 and why?
We’re working with a kid in Lisbon called DJ Marfox. He’s a really cool producer. Also, Afrikan Boy. We’re going to be doing some stuff with him for his album, to be released in 2009. On our own Lisbon label, Enfuchada, we’re releasing a series of 12”s and they will feature some great kuduro artists. The idea is to pick up some Angolan kuduro songs and collect remixes and re-edits for the releases, maybe leading up to a compilation.
What’s going to be the next exciting genre after kuduro?
I think one thing that’s interesting right now is all the Cumbia stuff from South America. It’s traditional music from Columbia and Argentina that kids are picking up and making into something electronic. At the moment, there are so many different musical reference points across the world that, eventually, major artists and pop artists are going to start picking up on them and doing something about it. So, I think that by the end of 2009, maybe we’ll have Nelly Furtado on a kuduro song. That’s something we want, and I keep mentioning it in interviews because I hope that she’ll read it and agree. “I think that by the end of 2009, maybe we’ll have Nelly Furtado on a kuduro song. I keep mentioning that in interviews because I hope that she’ll read it and agree.”
What was your favourite memory of 2008?
When Kalaf got arrested in Norway, because he didn’t have his passport and visa straightened out. Eventually we had to get the lawyer involved from the Oya festival that we were playing at. Kalaf was released and we had a huge show at the festival in Olso. It was one of the best gigs we’ve played. It really felt good, after all that struggle, to go onstage and just perform for a huge crowd of people.
What are you enjoying doing the most at the moment?
Playing Wii. Mostly Wii Sports, just all those stupid games that you don’t have to think too much about. That’s been my favourite thing. DJ Riot, he just got a Blackberry last time he went to the States and he’s on a mission to try and get everyone on his Blackberry messenger service. He just talks about that shit every five minutes of his life. I think he’s got Diplo, his girlfriend and our manager, and those are the only three people.
