'Afrika' was released this Tuesday - the first advance of 'King2da', an album imagined for the pre-covid that the disease postponed, but not definitively. It is a single with family symbolism and not only that, which starts from family knowledge to resume a debate about what it means to be black. "Go back to your land, but you were born in Amadora" is one of the many perplexities raised by Prodígio in his verses.
"The song came about after my father passed away. My brother Nilton and a friend from home, NZ, who also sings, had my father's voice recorded in a production of his. Nilton gave me the recordings so I could use them , because for him, I was the only one who deserved to sing because of the close relationship I had with my father. The fact that I had already recorded Gutto's version - of being black, the song came together as if it were the same story. that's how music was born", explains Prodígio, in a statement sent to VerAngola.
The single, now available on all digital platforms, portrays the need to approach and talk about slavery and colonization. "Social networks continue to show stories of 'African' black people being mistreated, some beaten in daylight, others for lack of a pass, these are absurd things that bother me a lot. It's a conversation that I believe is only unpleasant because you don't talk", he says.
'Afrika' is bound together by indestructible family ties. The writings are by Prodígio, the lament of the chorus by father Domingos and the production of brother Nilton, which is also joined by a religious choir to expand the spiritual dimension of the song. However, "more than a cry of revolt, it is a call for attention", highlights Prodígio. And a reflection, that being African is just being a human being.
"I am sure of one thing and it comes from my soul, we all come from the same place. We need a lot of dialogue to understand what we have in common and to understand all our differences. This music is a contribution to this conversation, it serves as a cry that we are all equal".
The artist also remembers the importance of his father in his life and in music: "I loved things through my father. So much so that after losing him I stopped seeing the world in the same way. My father made me very comfortable to be myself, and I think that's the secret of my music, because I was afraid and very ashamed of failing him, or of him knowing that I failed", he says.
About the desire to edit eight albums in a single year, Prodígio explains that it came about as "therapy": "The year 2020 was the worst of my life, not only because of the pandemic, but because I lost so much. Almost everything lost its fun. I started to get worried because I couldn't afford to talk to depression for that long. So, actually, the eight albums came out as therapy. I needed to drown in work and that's what I did."
The release of eight albums in a single year, which will take place next December, represents a record, with the artist preparing his candidacy for the Guinness World of Records. "I think we deserve it, because it's really a record, something that has never been done, at least within our notion, in the history of hip-hop, maybe in the history of music. This year we worked aggressively, we did our best to not talking or dialoguing for a long time with depression. I believe it's time for us to reap the rewards", says Prodígio.
Prodígio recently opened the first youth center Prodigia-te, in Prenda, the neighborhood where he left and where he always returns. "We are currently registering the kids and the response has been positive. In fact, we were aware that we needed to get things done, but we never realized how much people needed this. After the opening of the Youth Center, we have had this answer".
