Here is an artist often heralded as the new diva of Kuduro. No surprise there, as Pongo always made it her job to constantly freshen up the genre’s heritage by livening up her style with sounds from all over the world. Born in Angola in 1992, the passionate dancer grew up to a wealth of music and rhythms. Traditional Angolan songs, Caribbean Zouk, Brazilian beats…all provided the soundtrack to her music-filled youth. She’s barely 8 when her and her family flee the civil war raging in the country to travel to Portugal. It was there that she took her love for Kuduro music to whole other level.

Pongo spends her teenage years in the Denon Squad, a local band who originally recruited her as a dancer before letting her pick up the mic to play shows in the neighbourhood. It’s during those playful times, that she catches the stage bug and realises she wants to keep sharing emotions with her voice. Making a name for herself on Lisbon’s Kuduro scene, she is spotted