Composer and Vocalist Specialising in Batuku and Funana
Ritchaz is a musician from Portugal who takes his listeners on a ride through his own identity.
Ritchaz started mixing various genres such as hip-hop, kuduro, batuku, and others – a path he had started striving with a friend of his, Kéke, with whom he has played for ten years and had even toured not only in Portugal but also had some gigs abroad. They had even won a place for them at the Novos Talentos Fnac 2008 contest – a Portuguese contest made available for new artists to show their place in music. They also participated in some projects with the Associação Cultural Filho Único, which promotes alternative music in Portugal.
Finding himself producing music at home, Ritchaz started producing for musicians and bands who had already strode some miles on the road, making an investment in his room in Lisbon. In the same room, Ritchaz’s mother had to witness many people coming and going almost nonstop through the door. Later, after playing in several bands, Ritchaz focused on producing his own songs. Even while playing with other bands, he still continued composing his own pieces.
Besides his place in music, Ritchaz has been working on building his own musicality by playing keyboard, bass guitar, and classical guitar, revisiting his influences – which he admits he had consumed, in Portugal, mainly Cape Verdean music. But despite revisiting those influences, mixed with other popular and urban songs, Ritchaz assumes that his music is the product of the specific reality of Portugal’s multiculturalism.
MFL841
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