Buraka Som Sistema

Origins

Buraka Som Sistema was founded in 2002 by João Barbosa (Branko), Rui Pité (DJ Riot), Andro Carvalho (Conductor) and Kalaf Ângelo.

Barbosa and Pité were producers from the Cool Train Crew collective, for which Kalaf was a frequent vocal collaborator. They were interested in creating a kuduro project, and had previously worked together as 1-UIK Project. They met Carvalho, a hip-hop producer from Angola and member of the hip-hop band Conjunto Ngonguenha, while he was in Portugal.

Buraka Som Sistema is the Portuguese word for word translation for Buraka Sound System, keeping the English word order (the correct translation would be "Sistema de Som da Buraka"). They took their name, Buraka, from the freguesia (urban district) of Buraca in the city of Amadora, in the suburbs of Lisbon.

Career

Their first release was From Buraka to the World, an EP released on the Portuguese label Enchufada, which include the single "Yah!", featuring vocals by Angolan hip-hop MC Petty. It was followed by another Petty vocalized track, "Wawaba", and a re-release of From Buraka to the World, expanded to a full album.

After touring in several European countries, including playing at the Glastonbury Festival and Roskilde Festival, the three producers released "Sound of Kuduro" in 2007, which features rapping by M.I.A., DJ Znobia, Saborosa and Puto Prata. The track was a precursor to their second album, Black Diamond, which was released in 2008 by Sony BMG, followed by a new single, "Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)", with vocals by Pongolove. They are currently signed on to Aftercluv Dance Lab, a Latin EDM label launched by Universal Music. On July 1st 2016 Buraka Som sistema curated Globaile, a music event at the Torre de Belém grounds, as part of the Festas de Lisboa, where they performed their last concert.

Awards

In the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 they were 8th (out of 19) in the New Sounds of Europe International Competition and were one of the nominees for Best Portuguese Act. In the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 they were awarded the Best Portuguese Act and were nominees for Best European Act.

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Europe Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1994 by MTV Europe.

Golden Globes

The Golden Globes is an annual awards ceremony by Portuguese TV station SIC.

European Border Breakers Awards

The European Border Breakers Award is an annual awards ceremony for artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year.

BEFFTA Awards

Buraka Som Sistema won the BEFFTA International Entertainment Icons award on October 25, 2014. They told Sound And Motion magazine that they "were honoured to collect an award."