IKOQWE (pronounced ee-kok-weh) is a new project by Batda (aka Pedro Coquen o, the Angola-born, Lisbon-raised artst who ranks among the leading exponents of the new wave of African electronic music), and Luaty Beir o, aka Ikonoklasta, the Angolan rapper turned iconic actvist.
IKOQWE’s inspiraton comes from old school Hip Hop as much as from traditonal Angolan music. The album (enttled ‘The Beginning, the Medium, the End and the Infnite’) includes drum machines, vocals in Angolan slang, Umbundu, Portuguese & English, discussions about neocolonialism, iniquites and falsifed history, radio sounds, utopian solutons, and much more.
The album will be preceded by a 3-track digital single, ‘Pele’ (‘Skin’), containing the album version, and remixes by afro house legend Bodhi Satva and by UK ‘disco noir’ band MADMADMAD. Also check out the music video for ‘Pele’, including some footage from IKOQWE’s frst live performance.