Branko: Beats International
If it hadn’t been for the inexplicable staying power of MTV’s Jersey Shore, we’d still be calling João Barbosa “J-Wow.” But Buraka Som Sistema’s founding father – the man behind their unmistakable kuduro beats and big-room-friendly drops – is now known as Branko, and yesterday saw the release of his first solo mixtape, Drums Slums & Hums.
The mix comes in at a refreshingly slight 28 minutes. It comprises eight tracks, each of which features a turn from a guest vocalist. Despite Branko’s tight production, each new voice brings a distinct flavour, resulting in a pick ‘n’ mix of music. Roses Gabor features on first single, “Waves,” bringing a sulky London hue to the bassy club jam. Elsewhere, Mexican newcomer Ezekiel adds a late-night air of menace to “Going Down.” And on “Rolling,” New York rapper-du-jour Zebra Katz treats us to his delightfully haughty vocal put-downs. Other cameos come courtesy of South African rapper Okmalumkoolkat; Zebra Katz’s mate Njena Reddd Foxxx; silky voiced Lisbon local Orlando; Florida’s Dominique Young Unique; and Swedish three-piece Compadre.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Barbosa’s aim as a solo artist is to take in a boundlessly wide spectrum of sounds and influences. “I’ve tried to cover as much of the globe as possible,” he explains. “I wanted to use all of the knowledge that I gained travelling around the world with Buraka and work with all of these people that I met along the way.” The solo project acted as his opportunity to break out from the specifically Afro-Portuguese sounds of Buraka Som Sistema and introduce his fans to an even larger set of influences. Seemingly undaunted by inevitable Diplo comparisons, Barbosa says that “I sort of feel like it’s my mission in life to observe scenes that are growing parallel to the whole normal Western music currents and just try to make those connections and create a little side street where those two things can collide.”
Despite the progress that the likes of Diplo have made in said mission, Barbosa stresses that it’s still often difficult to change listener’s default notions when hearing certain types of music for the first time. “Although people talk a lot about wanting to know new things, sometimes I don’t really know if they do,” he says. “Everyone’s so comfortable with their Ikea furniture that they don’t wanna buy something from somewhere else. Even if they see it in a magazine and they like it, they’re still not buying it.”
Barbosa has some ideas on how to re-programme our audio stereotypes. Integrity is key. So is making things that are “user-friendly.” He takes the example of DJ Marfox, a local Lisbon kuduro producer signed to his Enchufada label. “I knew that a lot of DJs wouldn’t get his rhythms, his structures,” he explains. “So, instead of trying to change his music, I chose my favourite song from his release and created an edit for XLR8R – it allows DJs to relate to it without it being a problem for them to play in their sets. But his EP – it’s exactly what he gave me – I’m not gonna touch that.”
Like the mixtape, Barbosa’s Enchufada imprint has been a platform for his global musical discoveries. It’s been a home to everybody from the UK’s T.Williams to Venezuelan Tuki producers Pocz & Pacheko. In many ways, Barbosa is setting him up in a similar fashion to someone like Benji B or Gilles Peterson, a selector who seeks out and delivers the most exciting music from around the world. It’s a blueprint that already seems to have worked at his monthly Lisbon club night, Hard Ass Sessions. “It’s great because when you build a residency like that people just trust whatever the night is. I think people would trust me if I got up on the mic at 3 AM and said, ‘I’ve got my eight year-old nephew here to DJ.’ I think people would go for it.”
Barbosa also hopes to continue to introduce new sounds in his role as Buraka Som Sistema’s main producer. If you caught their recent turn at Boiler Room you’ll already know that they devoted the first 15 minutes of their set to a genre called “zouk bass.” It’s a gloopy electronic 90 BPM imagining of ’80s French Antillean zouk music. Barbosa explains with glee, “I’ve been getting lots of emails today from my DJ friends asking for zouk bass, like it’s the hottest thing out there.” The event worked as a perfect introduction to the sound.
Only time will tell whether Branko’s forward-focussed and inclusive view of music has a chance of global success. Sometimes he’s still incredulous that Buraka has gotten as big as it has. “What’s the probability of a band that is 50% Angolan and 50% Portuguese growing up in Lisbon having some sort of an impact on the dance music scene?!”
Either way, there’s still definitely work to be done, so that we can get to a future where the maverick victories of Korea’s Gangnam Style open up the mainstream charts to musicians from less obvious postcodes. “The new stars of music aren’t gonna come from LA or New York or London,” he predicts. “Maybe the next big star in music is gonna come from South Africa or from Mexico.”
