Come April 7, the boys of Buraka Som Sistema (Lil’ John, Riot and Conductor, and MC Kalaf) will release their kuduro manifesto, Black Diamond. The album’s title references corruption in the oil and diamond businesses, subjects that are close to home for BSS.

Kuduro music arrived in response to Angola’s turbulent socio-political climate. With their song “Sound of Kuduro,” which featured M.I.A., DJ Znobia, Saborosa, and Puto Prata, DJ/producers Buraka Som Sistema introduced this grimy, twitchy genre of music to fans worldwide. On its new LP, BSS will include a message of hope for Angola as the country moves away from its sordid political past.

While MC Kalaf admits that the team’s primary interest is “making people dance like hell, sweat like hell, and scream like hell,” the album intends to accomplish much more. “Yes, you are in London, but it feels like Luanda, or Lisbon. It’s ugly, and embodies the beauty of the pure and the raw,” he says in “New Africas Pt.1,” one of the new album’s tracks.

Black Diamond will also feature British MC Kano, baile kingpin Deize Tigrona, and Angolan MC Pongolove.

Black Diamond
01 “Luanda/Lisboa”
02 “Sound of Kuduro”
03 “Aqui Para Voces”
04 “Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)”
05 “Kurum”
06 “IC19”
07 “Tiroza”
08 “General”
09 “New Africas, Pt. 1”
10 “New Africas, Pt. 2”
11 “Beef”
12 “Black Diamond”