Generation Bass presents: DJ N.K. – ANGOLA ZURIK EP

We at Generation Bass still remember the excitement when we first heard Kuduro. A fast, dangerous sounding blend of house and rap, sung/rapped in Portuguese at breakneck speeds. Like a house version of a voodoo chant. It took us hours, scouring the depths of the 2008/2009 internet, to find those first mp3’s. Mostly uploaded by a few guys in Angola who were lucky enough to have some internet, these were the 96kbs building blocks of a genre that still easily holds its own in 2014. The genre holds a special place in our hearts and we still love to play those cuts where they work best, on a dance floor. We are proud to present this great EP by established producer DJ N.K. (real name Pedro Cardosa) with some of the best modern Kuduro tracks we’ve heard in a long, long time!
DJ N.K. adds something new to the table as well. Besides his crystal clear production and razor sharp beats he throws in an excessive amount of percussion to give the rhythms even more drive. This is a 6 track EP that completely wipes the floor with so much generic music out there it’s not even funny anymore. This young producer from Lisbon and being half Angolan himself understands the strong points of a well produced beat like no other. Coming from a hip-hop background he slowly grew and kept on perfecting his skills. Since 2006 he’s been focussed completely on his Kuduro tracks and has been playing all over, along the likes of DJ Fofuxo, DJ Marfox and DJ Breaks.
This EP sees him drop 6 gems in 22 minutes, and not one of them wasted.
The EP kicks off with a statement of intent, “Angola Zurik” where he takes it back to some classic Kuduro. Filtered breaks, steady banging drums and syncopated percussion. Dare I say, better than anything Buraka has thrown at us in the last 3 years! “Apagao de Luanda” takes the tempo down a notch and then something miraculous happens. For the first time you can hear how close this music sounds to old school Chicago house. And just when you realise this, DJ N.K. throws in a load of percussion that makes it sound like an authentic tribal anthem. Mind Blown! The energy maintains very high with the next track, my personal favourite “Carnaval no Musseke”. Which, borders more on 3ball than any other cut on here, but also holds some crazy synths and zaps in the mix which propels this track like a rocket. The fourth joint “Na Namibe” throws in some real African flavour with the screeching monkey samples and the percussive melody that sounds like its being banged out on a coconut. An added bonus is the really gorgeous vocal line in there as well. The tribal influence is even clearer in the penultimate track “Noites do Mussulo” (‘Nights at Mussulo’, a club in Lisbon), which is stacked to the rafters with energetic conga and bongo percussion. I really, seriously cannot imagine anyone standing still when that track is played. Ever! “Transito das 07h” ends the bunch of with 3ball tribal percussion, wild vocal samples and a sh*tload of synths buzzing in your ear. A great close to a great EP of energetic, frantic music that perfectly bridges the gap between Africa and Europe!