Buraka Som Sistema co-founder and Enchufada label-head Branko presents OBG, his third album. The artist's most personal and reflective work to date, it's a letter of love and thanks to the community around him, to Portugal's breathtaking landscapes, and to the syncopated, window-rattling rhythms that emanate from the clubs and car stereos of Portuguese cities.
As a musician, DJ, label curator and promoter, few have been as pivotal as Branko (aka João Barbosa) in bringing the sound of underground Portuguese electronic music to a global audience. Since his formative years growing up in the city of Amadora on the fringes of Lisbon, Barbosa dedicated his career to elevating the unique club music hybrids -- mutations of kuduro, kizomba, zouk, baile funk and more -- that were spreading in the communities around him. Branko initially achieved success as part of the collective Buraka Som Sistema, before beginning a career as a solo artist and releasing two LP's, Atlas (ENLP 073LP, 2015) and Nosso (ENLP 102LP, 2019). But Barbosa's creative output is just one side of his work. As a curator Branko launched the Lisbon festival Enchufada Na Zonain 2019 and in 2022 will curate a stage at the first Sonar Lisboa. Through his label, Enchufada, he works tirelessly to raise the profile of up and comers from Lisbon and the global Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) diaspora. OBG is an album of organic textures and inviting rhythms, created in Branko's signature style, and inspired in part by a series of outdoor DJ-sets performed and streamed from beautiful locations across his native country. Opener "SRA" starts with a beckoning vocal, wasting little time setting the tone with warm piano chords and a low-slung, kizomba-esque beat. On the brooding "ETA", written with Portuguese beatmaker Fumaxa, subtle sliding bass tones underpin a brooding, colorful arrangement. Features Ms Mavy, Fumaxa, Iúri Oliveira, Traz Águá, and Éllàh. For fans of: Buraka Som Sistema, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Sango, Quantic.
| A1 | SRA |
| A2 | AUX |
| A3 | ADRT |
| A4 | ETA |
| A5 | CTG |
| B6 | MEL |
| B7 | ABR |
| B8 | NAFÉ |
| B9 | SDDS |
| B10 | VDD |
| B11 | OOO |
