Diamondog

Diamondog (born on August 23, 1980 in Luanda , Angola as Diamantino Edgar Capacassa Feijó ) is an Angolan rapper who currently lives in Berlin . His musical style is characterized as political and conscious rap . Diamondog is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and has a master's degree in "Visual Media and Anthropology" from the Free University of Berlin .

biography

Diamondog has been a rapper since 1998 and first encountered hip-hop culture at the age of 16 while completing a journalism course at the Institute of Economics in Luanda (IMEL). Influenced by friends and colleagues, Diamondog soon developed from listener to Master of Ceremony ( MC ).

Diamondog has already been on tour in Barcelona ( Spain ), Porto , Braga , Gaia and Matosinhos in Portugal and has given concerts in Krakow , Poland and in Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , Salvador , Belo Horizonte and Curitiba as well as various German cities performed, u. a. in cooperation with Afrika Bambaataa , Marcelo D2 , Thaide Dual Thaide and DJ Hum, Tianastacia, Wilson Sideral, Leandro Ferrari, Marku Ribas, Black Sonora, Tambolele, Dj Primo, Olodum Creative School, Shameema-Godessa ( South Africa ) and many others.

Diamondog has taken part in various concerts and festivals. a. include: Revolution Carnival; Brazil Pop Rock Festival 2004 in collaboration with Marcelo D2 and DJ Primo in front of more than 25,000 spectators in the “Independence” stadium in Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Eletronika Festival in Belo Horizonte; Black Arts Festival at the invitation of Afrika Bambaataa , with whom he has shared the stage twice, in Brazil and Berlin (Germany); FILE (International Festival of Electronic Language); Bread & Butter in Barcelona; Coca Cola Music Festival; Fete de la Musique in Berlin 2008, 2009 and 2010; Carnival of Cultures 2009; Wolfsburg Festival, u. a.

Musical development (chronological)

1998: The first steps

Together with the Angolan rapper MC Kamba, who now lives in Spain, Diamondog founded a rap duo in the past. Diamondog wrote his first song at this time and called it "If you want to be happy". The song was first published in a defunct hip-hop program on FM Express radio station by radio host Moises Luis, and at that time was one of the most popular radio programs in the Angolan capital.

1999–2000: Political Asylum (Brazil) and Clandestino

Due to the civil war in Angola , which had lasted for 24 years by then, Diamondog moved to Brazil , where he was granted political asylum . Shortly after arriving in Brazil, he met Alexandre Lopes Muzzillo, known as DJ Primo, Jonathan o Gralha and Bill, who founded the group Blackout and through whom he immersed himself in the hip-hop scene in Curitiba, Brazil. Diamondog lived in Curitiba after his arrival in Brazil. In 2000 he was invited by the rapper Maskot from Curitiba to take part in a musical cooperation. Diamondog participated in this way for the first time musically in Brazil with a song that was produced by DJ Primo and in which the rapper Fresh Tio from the rap group SP Funk also contributed with a feature. In the same year Diamondog founded the duo "Clandestino" with the Brazilian rapper Jazzrell aka Mic Forte, which means "family connected by a common fate".

2004: A Tribute to Our Nations

In 2004 the Duo Clandestino released an independent album entitled “A Tribute to Our Nations”. The CD is characterized by the participation of various artists of different origins, such as B. Cubanito ( Havana , Cuba ), Kunkalopi ( Cape Verde ), Kaio Estrao ( USA ), Eddie Toaster and Rena Engels from Brazil. The songs deal with social issues and spread messages of peace. Above all, the titles “Hands that hold a pen” and “Spread the peace” should be mentioned.

2005–2006: “Food to eat” with Compadres

In 2005 Diamondog took part in the CD “Food to Eat” (Comida de comer), a philanthropic album by Pode Nastasia, which was also played by musicians and groups such as Uakti, Marina Machado ( Milton Nascimento - Backing Vocal), Glauco Nastasia and others. a. was organized and supported.

In the following year Diamondog was invited by the musician Leandro Ferrari to take part in the “Compadres” project. Diamondog took part in three tracks, one of which was recorded in collaboration with his partner, rapper Cubanito.

2007: Arrebite / Documentary / World Peace Service and Input Junkies

In 2007 Diamondog was invited by the Brazilian producers Raul Costa and Rafael Ferreira Costa to take part as MC in the recording of a record called "Arrebite" (also the name of the group). The LP is distributed in Germany by Phantanoise Records and by Juno Records, Alphacut Records and Sbmonline. At the same time, the British magazine "XLR8R", which specializes in electronic music, published and presented three tracks on its website.

In the same year, Diamondog was invited by cameraman and director Marcelo Trotta to take part in the documentary Alem de Cafe, Petroleo e Diamantes . The documentary has received awards at various festivals, e. B. he received the award for the best director at the festival of Pernambuco and was awarded at the festival of the human rights commission of São Paulo .

Diamondog moved to Berlin in mid-2007. There, at the invitation of the German NGO Weltfriedensdienst eV (Service for World Peace), he gave workshops in Poland and Germany for young people that dealt with conflict transformation through hip hop.

In 2007 Diamondog was part of the “Input-Junkies” project and recorded the song “International Monkey Business” with the South African rapper Shameema from the group Godessa, which ironically portrays the ignorance of many Westerners about the African continent.

2008: Malucofonia

The song "Eu Quero uma dama" ("I want a lady"), which was written by Diamondog as an homage to black women, will be released in 2008 on the CD "Malucofonia" by the Acla label.

2009: Volkswagen Sound Foundation and Nomadic Wax

Diamondog and his band - DJ Werd (scratches), Steffen Scholz (keyboards), Lars Rüetschi (guitar), Stefan Fuhr (bass), Daniel Allen (trumpet) and Jan Pfennig (drums) - are as an artist from the Volkswagen Sound Foundation funded . In addition to the various artistic incentives, they receive a mini-bus for tours over a period of one year.

At the invitation of the American label Nomadic Wax, Diamondog and DJ Werd recorded the song "Alexis Sinduhije needs freedom" to promote the release of journalist Alexis Sinduhije in Burundi , who was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2008 by Time Magazine has been.

2010: Hip Hop Evolution and Coptic

In the spring of 2010, Diamondog was named as the representative of Angola by the BBC on a map that portrayed the evolution of hip hop in the world. Diamondog also interprets together with Lady Daisey, a US R&B and soul singer, Adam Wassrin, a Swedish rapper and LMNZ, a producer and rapper, the song "Time and Money" about the corruption and greed of people with chronic poverty are faced. The song was produced by the German rapper and producer LMNZ and will appear on the 2010 sampler "Worldwide Rap".

In 2010 Diamondog confirmed its participation in an album produced by Coptic. Coptic has already produced productions for rappers such as Notorious BIG , P. Diddy , KRS One , Buckshot , G-Dep, Jermaine Dupri and others. a. made. The album will be called "Close to my Roots".

Diamondog is currently working on his first solo album, which will be called "Never Muzzled". The album will likely be written in English.

Discography, compilations and collaborations

• Clandestino - Um Tributo às Nossas Nações 2004
• Coletania - Comida de Comer 2005
• Input - Junkies 2007
• Arrebite 2007
• Malucofonia 2008
• Mixtape - Democracy in Burundi 2008
• Gimme my Microphone Check 2009
• LMNZ - Worldwide Rap 2010

Web links

• Diamondog website

Individual evidence

1. ^ Diamondog . Vice Magazine . Retrieved on June 10, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Diamondogs europe tour . angoladicas. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 10, 2010. 
3. ↑ Diamondogs in the top 10 presentations of Fete dela musique Berlin . angoladicas. Retrieved on June 10, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Peace Exchange . All Africa. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
5. ↑ (Weltfriedensdienst) Service for World Peace . All Africa. Retrieved on June 10, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ 'Diamondog' Gets Volkswagen Sponsorship . All Africa. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
7. ^ Demotix - Diamondog new talent from Volkswagen Sound Foundation . Retrieved on June 10, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Evolução do Hip Hop no Mundo - BBC . BBC. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
9. ↑ Diamondog LMNZ and Lady Daisey - BBC . BBC. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 10, 2010.