Pic credit: Viquipèdia
Kuenda Bonga
Born José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho, he is better known as Bonga, a folk and Semba singer and songwriter. Once an athlete and a Portuguese record holder for the 400 metres (Angola was then one of Portugal’s five African colonies), Bonga began his singing career at age 15 but later abandoned athletics in 1972 to concentrate fulltime on music, becoming famous in his native Angola and Portugal, with his pro-independence songs. As an outspoken supporter of independence, he was forced into exile in Rotterdam, where, in 1972, he recorded his first record Angola 72, which largely became the soundtrack for Angola’s struggle for independence.
Following Angola’s independence in 1979, Bonga returned to Angola and performed with the government-supported orchestra, Semba Tropical. He has released over 30 albums, singing in Portuguese and traditional Angolan languages and these albums include Racines, Kandandu, Kualuaka kueto o Sentimento. The music legend who has the voice of peace is still adored and seen as a hero by many in Angola.
