MUSIC Albums [26]: Nidia - Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes
Injecting influences from new perspectives...
Introduction
Like Jlin did with the footwork genre, Nidia broke away from the pack on 2020’s Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes to take kuduro (which originated in Angola), in different directions from the heavy hitters of the crowd. She's brought a different set of sounds that injected a fresh energy into the genre. She started out connected to kuduro but what she has created here conceals some footwork rhythms and hiphop swagger. It truly feels like someone who isn't constrained by their starting point, with the ability to venture into experimental sonic territories.
Nidia’s record label mates at Príncipe (e.g. DJ Marfox, DJ Nigga Fox, & Lycox) might be better known, but from what I know of their material they're firmly in the kuduro genre, which is also the case for other releases by her. I like that this album is boldly going down its own path. It would be a shame if a so-so review in a publication like Pitchfork would put off her or any other artists from deviating from their home genre. The vibe is relatively chilled but there's a bounce to the beats that will get your shoulders moving of their own accord; getting down on the dancefloor is in no danger of being avoided with these tracks.
So what is kuduro? “Born in Angola and popularised globally by way of Portugal, the energetic rhythms and futuristic soundscapes of kuduro and batida have become a staple of the modern multi-genre club scene and made international stars out of the artists behind them. (…) it was born in the ’90s during the Angolan civil war. The innovative genre, which translates to mean ‘hard ass’ and mixes sampled drums with traditional Angolan music, created a sense of unity and positivity during uncertain times, its infectious dance moves and explosive beats taking over the streets of Luanda”. - Eight artists taking kuduro and batida to the next level | DJ Mag
Experiences
Nidia, whose mother is Guinea-Bissauean and father is Cape Verdean, was part of a vocal and dance group when she left Portugal for France as a 14 year old in 2011. She remained in the latter until her return to her former home in Lisbon several years later in 2017. It's impossible to categorically say what being outside of the Portuguese bubble in the French town of Bordeaux did for her musical sensibilities. The fact that this album, her second, was the first she made upon returning to Portugal could probably point to an openness, influences and perspectives she absorbed in her absence. After her initial releases, “Exposure to different production styles, different musicians, and the opportunity to travel and tour around the world have brought a different dimension to Borges’s [Nidia] music. “Before all of this, my music was a lot more African than what I am producing today,” Borges says. “Today, I think my music aligns more with worldwide electronic music” - Nídia Combines the Music of Lusophone Africa and Lisbon’s Dance Scene. Her recognising her album as ‘worldwide electronic music’ is significant, as it’s that ability to go beyond African styles that makes this album special. The final track, Emotions, is melancholic and chilled whilst riding a kuduro-style rhythm, all combining to create a truly stunning masterpiece of a tune.
*Photograph of Nídia by Marta Pina in the Guardian
Changing environments, gaining new experiences, these shape how we see and move through the world. It grants us more reference points than those who stay put in one location/reality are able to draw from. Such richness of life experiences is both liberating and isolating, for in the freedom to be more than what was feasible in our home location, we stray into a state of being that ultimately many cannot relate to. It is the curse of the traveller, whether or not that role is thrust upon us by parents decamping to foreign lands or as adults we make conscious decisions to go down that road.
When you stay somewhere long enough to get out of the tourist or visitor mindset, and really settle in, you're transformed. Young people are probably more strongly impacted than adults, their personalities and sense of self almost constantly mutating. It's a strange space to be in psychologically, yet it's capable of giving us so much stimulation. I hear openness in this music, curiosity too, it's beautiful to sit with. That everyone could similarly spend time away from their core culture, to have their minds expanded to know how to be different from who we thought we were destined to be, is a precious gift despite whatever pains that are also part of the bargain.
This music calls to somewhere within that has slumbered, touching in a way I didn’t realise I was missing. It just seems to evoke pleasure, complicated syncopated percussion chimes with some deep-rooted rhythms of a soul like mine. Slipping a beat alongside local melodies wouldn’t cut it, that would be as simplistic as generic tribal house beloved by cosplaying alternative hippy types. This is taking electronic music inside sounds of Lusophone Africa and configuring them from the inside out. It’s making old music new and reflective of who some of us are now, products of intersecting worlds. This is our sound, our heartbeat made physical, our truth as figures born of ancient and modern worlds. Those of us who respond to these sounds, the music is vibrating in sync with our natural frequencies, this music is us, reflecting our multicultural nature.
Conclusion
For more kuduro, check out the late DJ Znobia who is hailed as one of the godfathers of the genre. The group Buraka Som Sistema are the ones who brought kuduro into the spotlight in the West, and who also happen to be a direct influence on Pedro, whose album Da Lina begins with the infectious track Rapazes and shows another side of the genre.
The most recent album by DJ Lycox feels like a companion piece to what Nidia has achieved, making it worth putting some time aside to engage with it.
Finally, last but not least, the catalogue of the previously mentioned label Príncipe is packed full of kuduro tracks so check that out too for more music. What does this music do to you? How does it land within you?
Personally, I look forward to more artists of Global South heritage taking electronic music in wonderful exciting directions, introducing fresh elements that end up sounding as inspiring as what Nidia created on her album Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes discussed in this piece.
More Info
Nídia: Não Fales Nela Que a Mentes review – intimate introspection from Lisbon producer | Electronic music | The Guardian -https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/22/nidia-nao-fales-nela-que-a-mentes-review
Nídia - Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes · Album Review ⟋ RA - https://ra.co/reviews/25050
Nídia: Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes Album Review | Pitchfork - https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nidia-nao-fales-nela-que-a-mentes/
Nídia Is Bringing the Sound of Lisbon’s Ghettos to the World | New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/arts/music/nidia-batida-lisbon.html
Nidia - Biography | AllMusic - https://www.allmusic.com/artist/n%C3%ADdia-mn0003372425#biography
Eight artists taking kuduro and batida to the next level | DJ Mag - https://djmag.com/features/eight-artists-taking-kuduro-and-batida-next-level
Kuduro | Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuduro