Pongo is a female rapper who was born in Luanda, Angola and lives in Lisbon, Portugal. She struggled to gain respect as an artist in Lisbon. She had her first breakthrough moment when she was 15 and then didn’t return to music until years later.
She is sure to represent both Angola and the diaspora through her music. She likes to use African beats and uptempo music for her raps. A perfect example of her style of music is her song entitled, “Uwa.” Throughout the entirety of the video, she incorporates African culture, including representing her home country, Angola. In the very beginning of the video, the Angola flag is hung on the wall while Pongo is sitting on the couch and there are kids playing around her in the room. Although the flag is in the background and the scene is short, she made a point for it to be in the very first scene. The camera also zooms in so that the flag gets bigger in the shot, even though it is never too big in the context of the whole room. She wanted to showcase this in the very beginning to let her viewers know in a subtle way that yes, she is from Angola and she is proud of it. She represented it perfectly with the flag, it fit right into the video. Love that for her.
In the video, Pongo also makes sure that several scenes in the video are set in Africa, and incorporate African dancing and fashion. One of my favorite points in the video is the part where the men are in the water dancing. Pongo was sure to make the video set in Africa where the scenes clearly show areas outside which could be indicative of a town or village where people are energetically dancing, they are carefree, and having fun. I like that the standstill moments in the video where the fashion is being showcased reminded me of the similar moments in OMG by Sampa the Great. In the video, the fashion spoke for itself as it was so impressive and breathtaking. Similar moments were shot in this video as well. Even though the fashion displayed in this one is not as extravagant, the message is the same in that the viewer can bask in the awe of the fashion. Pongo and Sampa are not from the same country (Sampa the Great is from Zambia), however, the similar styles are representative of African culture in general.
Follow Pongo on social media!
Instagram: @pongo_official
Twitter: @pongoklassic