Pongo

Passionate about dance, this native of Angola fled her country with her family at the age of eight to escape the civil war. Relocated to Portugal, she developed a love for kuduro, a musical genre that fuses traditional Angolan rhythms with techno. When she was still a teenager, Pongo joined Denon Squad, first as a dancer and then as a singer. Impressed by her talent, the Lisbon band Buraka Som Sistema asked her to collaborate, resulting in the song Kalemba (Wegue Wegue) (2008), a major hit that drew praise from Hot Chips, Diplo and Shakira. Fast forward to 2018, when she established the foundations as a solo artist on the EP Baïa, quickly followed by a second mini-album, Uwa (2020). Pongo’s music is an electrifying melting pot of diverse sounds that blends EDM, melodic pop, kuduro and dancehall.