In the 20th century, Angola has been wracked by violence and political instability. Its musicians have been oppressed by government forces, both during the period of Portuguese colonization and after independence.

The capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda, home to a diverse group of styles including Angolan merengue (based on Dominican merengue), kilapanda and semba , the last being a genre with roots intertwined with that of Brazilian samba music. Just off the coast of Luanda is Ilha do Cabo , home to an accordion and harmonica-based style of music called rebita .

Compared to many of its neighbors in Southern Africa, as well as other Portuguese colonies (especially Cape Verde), Angola's music has had little international success. The first group to become known outside of Angola was Orquestra os Jovens do Prenda , who were most popular from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, and have continued sporadically performing and recording since. The big band included two trumpets, a saxophone, four guitars and a half-dozen percussion instruments. They played kizomba (a native style based around the marimba xylophone), using the four guitars to approximate the sound of the marimba, and quilapanga .

Carlos Vieira Dias , an acoustic guitarist, is, however, the father of Angolan popular music. He introduced the ensembles of dikanza (scraper, ngomas (conga drums) and violas, which became popular in the 1950s in urban areas, where audiences liked the politicized messages and early nationalist thought. Dias was imprisoned by the Portuguese for many years.

Beginning in the 1970s, Bonga became the most well-known Angolan pop musician. He began performing in the early 1960s when Angolan folk music was finding some popularity. As a member of Kissueia , he addressed social problems while also becoming a soccer star. He was moved to Lisbon by the colonial government, and he there played soccer until 1972, when he left to protest Portugal's colonial war in Angola. He settled in Rotterdam, where he became closely associated with the Cape Cerdean community. Bonga's "Mona Ki Ngi Xica" (1972) earned him an arrest warrant, and he began travelling between Germany, France and Belgium until Angola gained independence in 1975.

In the early 1980s, Angolan popular music was deeply influenced by Cuban music, especially in the work of André Mingas . Cuban rumba was popular and influential across southern Africa, including Angola's neighbor Zaire, where it became the basis for soukous. In addition to the spread of recorded Cuban music, the presence of Cuban troops allied with the Marxist MPLA movement helped to popularize Cuban rhythms.

Some other popular Angolan musicians include Teta Lando , Carlos Lamartine , Kituxi , Waldemar Bastos and Afra Sound Star .

References

• Hyde, Christian and Richard Trillo. "Struggle and Talent". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 428-431. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0