Dois

Pedro Coquenão's musical vision began as a radio show tracing his Angolan roots from his adopted home of Portugal. Creative restlessness and a dearth of new Afro-Portuguese music saw him adopt the name Batida and soon his own beats began to document his journey. On his 2012 self-titled debut he merged samples of Angolan music from the 60s and 70s with new electronic music emanating from Africa, resulting in a refreshing dialogue between old and new, between Africa and its diaspora. For this sequel the samples have either disappeared or been programmed into the syncopated beats that feed many of the tracks. The dialogue now feels as if it's between the kuduro (a dance music influenced by soca and calypso), electro and hip-hop scenes of Luanda, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Bissau, with raw electronic rhythms punctuating the lyrics of the guest MCs who hail from, in the main part, these cities. Though there is real joy in ‘Fica Atento!’, featuring a simple but delightfully funky synth bass, and the playful electro jam ‘Cookin Ugali’, many of the tracks lack the freshness and vibrancy of his first album. There's a sense that Coquenão's focus on modern Africa's underground music scenes has diluted rather than expanded his musical vision.