Portuguese imprint Enchufada and Buraka Som Sistema founder Branko launched his NTS radio show Enchufada Na Zona earlier this year, and ever since, the program has been a staple of our Monday nights. Shortly after the launch, Enchufada Na Zona expanded into a 14-track compilation of the same name, a massive effort that included tracks from members of Peru’s Dengue Dengue Dengue to Italy’s Populous to Portugal’s Dotorado Pro, traversing genre-defying club territory that includes house, gqom, afrobeats, and more.
One of the featured producers is Pedro Maurício, (aka KKing Kong), who followed in the vein of the Enchufada Na Zona compilation on his latest edit pack, Da Linha, with a more local twist. The collection comprises four tracks of bootlegs and remixes of street hits – i.e. nothing you will find on the radio – from his own neighborhood, the Linha de Sintra area of the Lisbon suburbs.
On his spin of Preto Show’s “Vou Matar Lá Um,” KKing Kong slows down the frenzy of the original into familiar territory: kuduro. The Afro-diasporic genre is omnipresent on Da Linha, making it run a smoothly as a mix – but Kong still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. The best example is his cheeky, breezy flip of Tio Edson’s trap beast “Apanhei Massa,” which he injects with a healthy dose of baile funk’s tamborzinho rhythms.
“Batimento” is a dancefloor weapon, where the spotlight is shared between a sticky hook and deeply percussive beats. Closing Da Linha is his remix of “Sentah,” a collaboration between Enchufada producer Mina and Ghanaian MC Bryte originally found on the label’s aforementioned compilation. KKing Kong retains its Afro-house essence, but replaces its azonto vibes with an extra slice of rich, punchy kuduro to round out the collection.
Da Linha is a great companion to KKing Kong’s latest EP, Damaia, and an invitation to learn more about the world of music being made on the outskirts of Lisbon.
KKing Kong’s Da Linha is out now.