São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

is an island country off the coast of Africa. Culturally, the people are African but have been highly influenced by the Portuguese rulers of the islands. São Toméans are known for ússua and socopé rhythms, while Principe is home to the dêxa beat. Portuguese ballroom dancing may have played an integral part in the development of these rhythms and their associated dances. Tchiloli is a musical dance performance that tells a dramatic story. The danço-congo is similarly a combination of music, dance and theatre.

Popular music

The godfathers of São Toméan popular music was the band Leoninos, which was founded in 1959 by Quintero Aguiar. The group were well known as spokesmen for the people of São Tomé and Príncipe, and were champions of their culture. Leoninos was banned by the Portuguese radio station after he released "Ngandu", which criticized the Portuguese colonialists. Leoninos broke up in 1965, but were followed by Os Úntués, led by

Leonel Aguiar Leonel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Leonel Altobelli (born 1986), Argentine footballer * Leonel Álvarez (born 1965), former Colombian football defensive midfielder * Leonel Bastos or Lionel Bastos, singer, songwriter and ...

, who added American, Argentinian, Congolese and Cuban musical influences, and introduced the electric guitar and other innovations. Popular music from the islands began to diversify, as bands like Quibanzas and

Africa Negra Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Among these groups was Mindelo, who fused São Toméan rhythms with

rebita Rebita is a traditional music and dance that originated in Angola. It is a genre of music and dance. Couples move coordinated by the head of the wheel, performing gestures and Massemba. Rebita Bands and Musicians In the history of rebita music ...

, an Angolan style, to form puxa. In the latter part of the 20th century, songwriters like Zarco and Manjelegua found a domestic audience, and São Toméan-Portuguese musicians like

Camilo Domingos Camilo Domingos (February 14, 1965 – August 7, 2005) was a Santomean singer of Cape Verdeans, Cape Verdean and Guinea-Bissau, Bissauan (now Bissauan Guinean) descent. Early life Domingos was born in the settlement of Conceição on the island o ...

, Juka,

Filipe Santo Filipe Santo (born 5 January 1959) is a Santomean singer who is currently one of the country's greatest singers. His songs relates to different kinds of love, the daily lives of Santomeans, corruptions and society in general. One of his marked ...

, Açoreano, Gapa established a

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

-based scene. Other 21st century singers who follow similar steps are Flavia, Bruna Lee, Marisyah,

Calema Calema are a music duo from São Tomé and Príncipe with origins in Portugal formed by the two brothers António Mendes Ferreira (born 5 April 1992) and Fradique Mendes Ferreira (born 19 March 1987). The name of the duo refers to the special undul ...

Kizomba

Angolan pop music is called Kizomba and was born out of Zouk music. Kizomba supports a fairly large number of artistes singing in both English and Portuguese.

References

*Lima, Conceicão, Shaw, Caroline & Chabal, Emile. "Island Music of Central Africa". 2006. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East''. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Music of Sao Tome and Principe