The Portuguese sphere of interest and language: a story that was built on anything but amiability and niceness – with colonialism and high power enslavement of millions, how could it? And yet, on the cultural side, the clash of the Portuguese with the sufferers of their policy of expansion has resulted in a cornucopia of wonderful developments. Music is certainly one of the fields where the bountiful crop is most obvious.

At Piranha Records too, representatives of the Lusosphere among the label roster reach from Africa to the Cape Verdean islands and Portugal.

Both Angolan expatriate Bonga and Mozambican Wazimbo came to prominence as voices of the struggle for independence. Bonga, an outspoken supporter of Angolan independence consequently exiled to Portugal in the seventies, became a national treasure first as a track-and-field athlete and then again as a singer/songwriter, keeping his very critical stance even when the fight for independence was won. Wazimbo was – and is – the voice of marrabenta, championed by liberation movement FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Mozambique) as the music of their movement, becoming Mozambique’s unofficial voice of the revolution.

Other Mozambican and Angolan acts supplement the two icons, such as Simentera who adds the very specific flavor of Cape Verdean Saudade to the Piranha roster.

Where Lusophone music opens into another world of its own..