Munchi steps up his kuduro game

Kuduro is to Angola what baile funk is to Brazil: energetic dance music born in the melting pot of local and international influences. Sidestepping a discussion of the pros and cons of globalization, it's fair to say that these amalgamated styles are benefits of cultural exchanges. Kuduro, thanks to the influence of Portuguese musicians, is blessed with both African and Latin rhythms, along with the distinct sounds of mainstream EDM. The genre had an underground hit in 2008 when MIA teamed up with leading purveyors Buraka Som Sistema.

In the spirit of global musical exchange, Munchi, the moombahton king of the Netherlands, is trying his hand at kuduro with his Kuduro Promo.

Download Munchi - Kuduro Promo

Munchi continues to select the perfect tracks for his genre-bending endeavours. His take on "Milkshake" samples bits and pieces of the Kelis hit into something entirely new, and in what he calls a Kuduro-more bootleg remix, Munchi corrupts the French electro of Sebastian's "H.A.L." into a bass-thumping, gun-cocking adventure.



Munchi originals "Minigame 2000" and "Ta Maluco" are stripped down and raw: squealing chiptune melodies, non-stop beats and Angolan chants. The same can be said of the two bonus tracks, leftovers from an earlier version of the EP. However, the highlight of the promo is his remix of Steve Starks' "Git Em." While the original is a Miami-meets-Baltimore percussion grenade, Munchi's version is more of a laser-tag battle. But like the original, it does just what the title says.



Throughout history, musical genres have been created by forces much larger than the musicians themselves, be it slavery, imperialism or globalization. Adding the Internet into the mix accelerates the process without the oppression, letting a kid from Rotterdam make a name for himself with sounds that originated a world away.