Holland Festival x Africadelic: From Kuduro to Afrotech

Holland Festival and Africadelic are celebrating 750 years of Amsterdam and reflecting on 50 years of independence (1975-2025) of five African nations – Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé & Príncipe and Comoros – and Surinam. With live performances by Batida and others, and sets by DJs Nidia, Prince Pasensi and more.

Pedro Coquenão, better known as Batida, is an artist who was born in Angola and grew up in Lisbon. He has created music, dance, radio and visual art since 2007 and is considered a pioneer in the Afro-electronic scene. His latest album, Neon Colonialismo (October 2022) combines samples from old Angolan songs from the 1970s with modern electronic dance music, extending his musical range into dance, graphic design, photography, radio and video. Batida’s work is an open invitation to party, but also contains social and political criticism.

Nídia Sukulbembe (Vale da Amoreira, Setúbal, 1997) is a DJ and one of the few female Kuduro producers. Her music is inspired by the Lusophone heritage of her parents from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, and by the ghetto of Vale de Amoreira in Portugal, where she spent the larger part of her youth. Nidia creates innovative Kuduro and Afro House dance music. Her debut is characterised by the use of hyper-realistic synths, rough beats and samples of her own voice, reminiscent of Jersey Club and Baile Funk.

Prince Pasensi is a DJ and producer from Amsterdam. He is hailed as an innovator of a sound that came out of the underground scene. His sets combine traditional Afro drums and rhythms from Surinam, which he uses to bring the unique Creole musical heritage of Surinam to dance halls and festivals.