African Sounds from the Past: ‘Angola 72’ by Bonga (1972)

Athlete turned activist and musician, Bonga (José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho), born in Angola, released this beautiful debut album in Rotterdam in 1972. He infuses his Afro-Portuguese identity to create an album that fuses Portuguese folk, semba (fast-paced Angolan techno house music), and kizomba (dance music) to create a slow, passionate album about Angolan independence from its Portuguese colonisers. It was released while in exile from Portugal and Angola, due to his radical anti-colonialist stance and continuous pressuring of Angola’s governmental corruption.

At the time of Bonga’s birth in 1942, Bengo, a province in Angola, was deeply entrenched in Portuguese colonial rule. Under the thumb of António de Oliveira Salazar, a system of slavery was enforced, causing up to 500,000 people to flee Angola, thus causing a labour shortage. Henrique Galvão, an Angolan deputy to the National Assembly, saw enslavement of women, children, the sick, and the elderly. Likewise, Bonga grew up seeing Angolans displaced by colonial settlers, who bought up fertile farming lands and enslaved the native Angolan population to work on these lands.

He ‘left athletics with deep sorrow’, as he was exiled for his outspoken ideas about Angolan liberation

The political landscape of Angola in the 40s was tumultuous. Cabindans (people from the Angolan province of Cabinda), who rallied for independence against Portuguese rule, were detained and deported to Baía dos Tigres and tortured. Nationalists sent letters to the UN demanding Angola be given protectorate status, an organisation made in 1948 to promote Angolan culture.

Bonga, however, left Angola when he was 23 to pursue an athletic career, despite him tapping into his musical side at 15 years old. He went on to become one of Portugal’s record holders for the 400 metres (as Angola was a Portuguese African colony). It was during this time in Benfica where he used his fame as an athlete to move between Angola and Europe delivering messages between exiled African liberationists, and those still fighting in Angola. He ‘left athletics with deep sorrow’, as he was exiled for his outspoken ideas about Angolan liberation.

This was around the time where he changed his name to Bonga. This is where his musical career begins.

By infusing the semba genre, he creates a sense of homesickness in this album, using the style to reminisce about good times

In exile in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (1972), he abandoned his Portuguese name and recorded this album. This album was highly controversial, as it told the stories of those complicit in Portuguese colonisation of Angola, in Portuguese and Kimbundu (Angolan language). His music, according to his niece, was prohibited, yet a household name in Angola, as it taught them about the land that they live in.

By infusing the semba genre (popularised by Bonga, described as “Angolan music full of joy, peace, harmony, and very positive vibes”), he creates a sense of homesickness in this album, using the style to reminisce about good times. The semba genre is characterised as fast-paced and energetic, and some of his songs embody this. ‘Uengi Dia Ngola’, translating to ‘Your Black Country’, is a song that has elements of semba in it, reflecting patriotism and the Angolan struggle for independence. The fast drums, soulful, raspy singing, and the transition between fast and slow make for an exciting song, yearning for what Angola could have been. This quick style is akin to Brazilian and Congolese music.

He uses Angolan instruments in his music to really connect to his Angolan roots – acting as a symbolic way of rejecting Portuguese rule. The dikanza is used: a traditional Angolan shaker, often played by Bonga himself. He also uses a mbira: a type of thumb piano to add melodic percussion, producing musical notes of one or more pitches. He uses congas (hand drums) for rhythmic depth, the acoustic guitar for providing melody and rhythm, and bass guitar and trumpet for adding Latin influences.

‘Muadikime’ is unfathomably upbeat, yet underscored with painfully tragic sentiments

It is the combination of Angolan instruments and his bluesy, soulful voice, with the acoustic guitar and trumpet, that makes this album so melancholic. The rawness of his voice makes it so gut-wrenching to those who understand the fraught history between Portugal and Angola (and those who understand the languages spoken). It is also a reflection of the people living in Angola – this album is their mouthpiece.

One of my favourite songs on this album is ‘Muadikime’, meaning ‘welcome’. The track is unfathomably upbeat yet underscored with painfully tragic sentiments. The speed, the drums, the depth of his singing, and the raw emotions conveyed blend Portuguese folk elements with traditional Angolan sounds to create a unique musical style that suits his social commentary.

I found this album through the Instagram account @machi7k, who reviews music from underappreciated regions in the world, to open minds and redefine who gets to create music and dominate culture! I’d definitely recommend taking a look at his page as – without him – I might not have ever listened to this beautiful body of work.