Paulo Flores will influence future generations
Paulo Flores: – It is only with knowledge of the past that we can change the future.
Paulo Flores is one of the leading singers and composers in Angola today. He has 15 albums under his belt, and these days he is putting the finishing touches on the album “País que Nasceu Meu Pai”, to launch it in the United States. The album was released in 2013, and its goal is to engage the young by paying tribute to the old.
During a rehearsal a couple of years ago, Paulo Flores experienced something that made him jump. He started singing a well-known song, but was surprised when it turned out that none of the choir members had heard it. For Flores, this was yet another example of how people's memories are failing.
- We are losing more and more references. Nobody knows the old poets. The writers don't read, the composers don't play and the lyrics consist of one sentence. The young are hungry for knowledge and want to learn everything. But they know less and less about their own history.
The experienced musician was born in 1972, three years before his homeland gained independence from colonial power Portugal. Shortly after liberation, a bloody civil war began that would last until 2002. Now Paulo Flores wants to pay tribute to those who have fought for freedom and peace.
- I want to tell my father's generation that they are an example for us. The fathers of the nation fought, but now it seems we have become powerless to continue.
Flores is disappointed with the cultural development after the war ended. - I imagined that the country would open up more, and that the culture from the districts would become more visible in the capital. But in the end we are only becoming more and more uniform. We are becoming "MTV Africa" where capital and globalization dictate the national norms. In Luanda, we are going to be so international, life or death. That is why the musicians and other artists must have international managers, but they do not know our traditions.
Still, he doesn't deny that there's a lot of talent out there.
- It must be said that it is very interesting to observe the creative youth. Kudoro has become a popular form of expression in my home country, but for me it is important to show that we have other musical traditions as well.
Paulo Flores' goal is to send a message to future generations. - One of the songs on the album, which will be released in the US this summer, is a letter to my grandchildren's grandchildren. I dream that they will have a clearer memory of our history than we have today.
- As I say in the song A carta (querida mãe) , in Norwegian: The Card (dear mother); "your son once had a desire to change the world". I still have that desire, but now I hope first and foremost to be able to influence today's youth to carry with them the same dream. And we can only do this by maintaining the memory of and references to our own history.
The interview was conducted by NUNO PACHECO for Public
Translation/summary by Kamilla Storaker Mygland
Paulo Flores plays at Festivalnatta Saturday July 4th