It began in Venezuela 35 years ago, filling suitcases with amazing Latin records to bring back to Europe and it has continued ever since; warehouse visits in the US, dusty basements in South America, garages in Africa and secret spots in Europe and Asia. Through the label, DJ sets and record shops, Mr Bongo unearth a seemingly bottomless selection of classic and contemporary Brazilian, Latin, African, disco, jazz, soul, reggae and psychedelic flavours.
Coming to life in 1989 as a small record shop in Soho, Mr Bongo were the first store to sell vinyl releases from independent hip-hop labels such as Def Jam, Rawkus and Nervous outside of the USA. They went on to become an established bearer for hard-to-find, classic Latin music, particularly Brazilian, outside of the Americas.
30+ years on, and with their home and pop-up store now residing in Brighton, Mr Bongo has expanded into a world-class record label with a recording roster featuring some of the best Brazilian, Latin, reggae, African, electronic and jazz music both old and new. Artists on the label include Arthur Verocai, DJ Koco, BADBADNOTGOOD, Masters At Work, Terry Callier, Jorge Ben, Cymande, Bala Desejo, Luke Una, Rubel, Ana Frango Elétrico, Joyce, Marcos Valle, Sven Wunder and much more.
With their lives devoted to digging for records that have that special spark about them, Mr Bongo have amassed outstanding collections between them and honed an ability to deftly weave together stories through those records. It’s a global sound that has led to a global reach, seeing them become highly renowned DJs around the world, playing everywhere from Glastonbury Festival and Lost Village Festival, to Nuits Sonores (France) and Mareh Festival (Brazil),Le Mazette (Paris), Nitsa and La Paloma (Barcelona) alongside hosting and curating a stage at Love Supreme.
Covering a wide range of musical tastes, spinning such genres as Brazilian, modern soul, disco, house, African and gospel, plus whatever new finds are feeling right, the Mr Bongo DJs are more than comfortable in any setting, be it club, festival, listening bar or radio. Over the years they have played alongside a wide spectrum of DJ greats from Leon Vynehall, Luke Una, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Nu Genea, Donna Leake, Sassy J, Young Marco, Mr Scruff, Patrick Forge, Wolf Music, Nick The Record, Nicky Siano, Ruby Savage, Palms Trax and more.
