Selecta Bob Figurante / Kussondulola Soundsystem
Mozambique / Angola / Portugal
Despite being a very peculiar, striking, charismatic and positively energetic style of music, relying on more than half a century of existence, Reggae (a fusion of traditional Caribbean rythms of Mento, Soca and Calypso with Jazz, Soul and Blues from the 30/40/50 years) stood out in the Portuguese panorama in the last 10 years.
As a Selecta (in the Jamaican slang) or DJ in the common slang, the Mozambican Bob Figurante has been undoubtedly one of the great and tireless promoters of this culture in Portugal since 1988, dispensing great presentations.
Residing in Oporto (Portugal), he is also Selecta (DJ) of Kussondulola Soundsystem (a 5 members project) and National/International Promoter and Production Assistant of Kussondulola band (a 12 members project) since 1993.
For almost 25 years at the forefront of the Portuguese/African reggae scene, actualy based in Lisbon (capital of Portugal) Kussondulola was the first Angolan reggae band to merit popular recognition, with a message of peace, social and environmental awareness, one of the main characteristics of this band.
In parallel, Selecta Bob has been a promoter of Kikongo Vibration since 2005, a personal project by Ras DaMula, Kussondulola's back-vocal, which in the last 15 years has also shared national and international stages with him.
Bob Figurante has also been a promotion assistant for Taking Over Productions since 2006, national promoter of Reggae Playgroud since 1989, and also collaborates with several Non-profitable Cultural Associations and Cooperatives from north to south of the country and abroad, where he promotes numerous activities of playful, cultural and social content.
Having been awarded Reggae ambassador status in Portugal, he is an unforgettable figure thanks to his profound knowledge and dedication/divulgation of this musical culture and philosophy since the end of the 80's, he has had the privilege of working with a countless number of artists and national bands linked to this culture and its aspects, as well as many other international ones.
Besides being a connoisseur and lover, he is a devoted collector of reggae and black music (jazz, blues, funk, afrobeat) in vinyl format, which is the main instrument of his work.
The theater, as well as radio and television, were also part of their academic, cultural and professional education in this journey through the artistic and musical aspects.
Bass Invaders:
A Porto collective formed in 2018 by dj's and producers who aim at the expansion of Dub (the electronic side of Jamaican music of the late 60s and early 70s), of Bass Music (in particular the frequencies of Sub-Grave) and the alternative culture of electronic music, carrying the vinyl format as a weapon of cultural and social intervention.
Formed by the veteran and ambassador of Reggae/Dub music in Portugal - Bob Figurante, complemented by producer 3WA and the artists Marzini and Mitochondrial - focused on the most modern trends of Dubstep, and producer Jahbz who focuses his quick mix on the militant genre of Jungle and super-sonic, also known as Drum and Bass.
Low Sessions:
Musical choice directed to downtempo - whose main characteristic is a calm tempo, with more spaced rhythm patterns, filled by more concise melodic and harmonic lines; the trip-hop - marked by decelerated beats, by the use of conventional and acoustic instruments in an environmental/ethnic fusion with styles such as dub, hip-hop, funk, soul and jazz; & for dub - the electronic side of Jamaican reggae from the late 60s and early 70s.