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From humble beginnings in the basement of Daddy Kool's reggae shop on Berwick St in 1989, Mr Bongo is seen as the standard bearer for Latin music in Europe. With regular imports from Latin America, Cuba and the USA, Mr Bongo brought the salsa and Brazilian vibe to the masses, establishing a core market for Latin music.
Out of this basement a thriving Latin shop was born and supplied music for salsa dancers, Latin Jazz addicts and Brazilian groovers alike. Characters such as Giles Peterson and the club Dingwalls championed this music and in the following years Mr Bongo established itself as the leader and provider for whole scene.
In 1991, Huw Bowles entered the Mr Bongo fray bringing his own encyclopaedic knowledge of hip hop, expanding Bongos field of expertise. Initially selling old skool and hip hop, the shop was the first to start selling music from small independent hip hop labels from around the world with artists such as Jurassic 5 having special Bongo pressings. This pioneering spirit revived the waning interest in hip hop and also started to bring focus to home-grown talent. As the independent scene grew, Mr bongo exclusively imported the first releases by Dr Octagon, J5, Mos Def and many more.
Ray Barreto opened a much needed new premises in Lexington Street as the Latin section expanded, having to bite the CD bullet. Always expanding its field of vision and expertise, the Mr Bongo store moved again, to its final premises in Poland Street, Soho. Now fully established, Saturday road-blocks were common with those hungry to get hands on Bongo's exclusive vinyl.
The shop initially acted as home to the Mr Bongo Record label and the later formed imprints: Disorient (Tokyo sound) and Beyongolia. In 1995 the Bongo empire expanded into Japan, opening a store in Tokyo which provided a useful A&R source for Disorient. After a 2 year crusade Bongo's secured the soundtrack rights to the classic hip hop movie Wildstyle and released two LP's from the film on Beyongolia. Unfortunately, the loss of a large proportion of the exclusive material to major music distributors and internet sales, coupled with rising rents was too much in the end and both shops were eventually forced to close down.
The Mr Bongo record label, now based in Brighton, remains strong 15 years on and still presents an enormous wealth and breadth of contemporary Brazilian music to wider audiences. Releases include albums from hip hop artist Marcelo D2, who sold over 500,000 units of his first album in Brazil and Seu Jorge (City of God, Life Aquatic), both produced by Mario Caldatto (Beastie Boys).
Add to that a back catalogue containing work from legends such as Tito Puente, Marcos Valle, Masters at Work, Ive Mendes, Banda Black Rio, Doris, Labi Siffre, Terry Callier, plus six instalments of the Brazilian Beats compilation, Tetine with their uncompromising Funk Carioca sound, the Batucada LPs, the legendary Wildstyle soundtrack and Incredible Bongo Band 'Bongo Rock' LP's, and the lost cinema classic I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba) DVD and you get an idea of the level of the quality and diversity that Mr Bongo represents.
www.mrbongo.com
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