Get into the groove of Boogieman & Samito’s Kussom sound - Bubblegum Club

Get into the groove of Boogieman & Samito’s Kussom sound

With the release of their debut single “Wasa Bibi”, the Montréal-based duo Boogieman & Samito are introducing the world to their new fusion genre they describe as ‘Kussom’. It is comprised of thick and gritty, analog dance elements mixed with Portuguese vocals and rhythms reminiscent of kuduro. Samito explains, “the word Kussom itself is a merger between Cú-duro (hardass) and Som (Sound). The idea for the name came while we recorded our 2nd single ‘SHE’. While the overall vibe of the song was chill and spacey, in my mind the kick + snare pattern kept referencing early batida and kuduro sounds. Right there and then we agreed to call it Kussom and I started referencing it in the lyrics.”

Having met through mutual friends years ago, Boogieman and Samito have worked together on a number of projects over time, yet this project was unplanned and came about organically. “It’s a natural collaboration, based on friendship and mutual respect for each other’s sound and craft. Samito has also frequently over the years regularly attended the different DJ nights and parties that Wasa bibi [a key figure in the Montréal music scene] and I have put together and performed at. At a certain point of sharing tracks with each other, and Samito hearing the evolution of my modular dance sound it became clear there was an opportunity to come together and do something interesting.” says Boogieman of how it began.

Founder of Live Analog Dance Rhythms (LADR), producer Boogieman teased the infectious sound of “Wasa Bibi” out of his modular synthesiser. “When I was building these polyrhythmic analog dance tracks, and beginning to look for collaborators, and especially vocal collaborators, Samito and I had a session, I believe the first was at my home studio, where we recorded some vocals on the track Wasa Bibi, and we started to get really excited. We continued to send tracks back and forth and eventually brought those tracks to Breakglass for additional recording and mixing. The ‘Wasa Bibi’ single is the result of all that…”

The Maputo-born vocalist Samito, made a name for himself with his 2016 debut single “Tiku La Hina” and has also released projects on France’s Kitsuné and Germany’s Man Recordings. His lyrics on “Wasa Bibi” directly and intentionally push against the general desire to perpetually search for political and cultural meaning when confronted with the ‘other’. He opens the track by telling a phantom listener on the dance floor that though he could tell them a secret if he wanted to, it’s not something he’ll reveal. Rather, the listener is encouraged to drag their feet and shake their ass to this ‘Kussom; sound of the moment’.

Deeply groovy, with crunchy and textured basslines, infectious rhythms and smooth synth leads, the sound of “Wasa Bibi” and Kussom is one that urges you to dance. Boogieman & Samito will further explore this sound on their upcoming debut EP, to be released late October or early November. Boogieman has also just released his debut album ‘Rotations’ and will be at a number of European shows including a performance on Rinse.fm in Paris on Saturday, October 12th opened by Wasa Bibi. The duo also plan to tour Europe in 2020/2021. Listeners should also keep their ears peeled for a deep house remix of “Wasa Bibi” by long-time Montreal DJ and house music aficionado Alain Vinet.

In the meantime, “Wasa Bibi” has received the lyric video treatment courtesy of Taiwa Olivier, a 17-year-old video art creator, and collaborator. The track’s namesake, Montréal DJ Wasa Bibi is represented by the mask in the video, thus dancing to the song while safely concealing the identity beneath. “We’ve also had long discussions with Wasa Bibi about this music video where she’s walking through a grocery store wearing the mask that she’s wearing on the album art and she picks up a bag of flour that may or may not be branded Wasa Bibi flour. I think we’ll make this happen,” says Samito.

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