As Omoloko puts it in the following interview, Brazil’s „sonic history reverberates across the world“. On Friday, it’ll reverberate in Panorama Bar, as his and Kabulom’s party series Mathosa and Lakuti’s and Tama Sumo’s Your Love join forces. Ahead of the event, Lakuti interviewed her guests about Afro-Brazilian representation, their musical influences, and the very essence of Mathosa.
Paolo, what was it like growing up in the countryside in Minas Gerais? João, what was it like growing up in Belo Horizonte?
Paolo aka Kabulom: Growing up in the interior of Minas Gerais was very happy, I lived in small houses, with enormous simplicity. My family is large and musical, I had good neighborhood friends, I played in the countryside, I lived a simple life with the simplicity of a small town, but conflicting at the same time because a small town can limit your dreams when you don’t know it and no one prepares you for bigger flights, for the possibility of getting to know other places.
João aka Omoloko: I was born in Rio Grande do Norte, in the heart of Brazil’s northeast. Throughout my life, I lived in nine different cities—my parents work in mining, and moving was always part of our rhythm. But when I turned 18, I took my boldest step: I moved alone to Belo Horizonte. It was there, in the first big city I ever called home, that I discovered an artistic and queer community that transformed my existence. I was studying chemical engineering and had a formal job, but I left it all behind to follow the call of art. In Belo Horizonte, I learned to become a cultural producer, I performed for the first time within the ballroom scene, and, over the past 12 years, I’ve built a community—a home made of sound, care, and resistance.
What were your first influences into music and were your families musical?
Kabulom: My family is very musical. My mother was connected to pop culture, she listened to a lot of radio, requested music over the phone and watched DVD clips all the time. My father and my paternal family were extremely connected to Afro-Brazilian culture. My father played percussion instruments, was a samba dancer, loved carnival and music was part of his life at all times. My father and his family celebrated a lot, my aunt was a singer too, my uncle was a drum master, my grandfather played and sang and my grandmother sewed costumes for artistic performances. Since I was little I understood that music and sound were something important in my life, they were part of who I am. My first influences were definitely my family.
Omoloko: My uncle Simão and my brother Arthur were the first to spark my musical fire. My brother and I had a ritual: a competition to see who could discover the most obscure, rare artist. At 12, I was already diving into Radiohead, Kraftwerk, pop, and Brazilian music—all woven with the roots of my home, where forró always echoed from my parents‘ speakers. Music has always been part of the air we breathed. On family road trips, I was the guardian of the playlists. Everyone knew: If you wanted to make me happy, just give me a CD.
Why is it so important for both of you to support Black & Queer artists in Brazil?
Kabulom: I believe it is important to support black and LGBT artists because they are the roots of music in Brazil, and the artists who are so fundamental to our culture are often erased from our histories.
When we support these people, we not only help them showcase their art, but also help them survive in this world, as well as registering them in history as people who were fundamental to the construction of our culture. It is important to support these artists and always remember them so that their stories are always told and never forgotten. Brazilian culture is very rich and diverse, but our artists and efforts are often not valued or recognized.
Omoloko: It’s where I come from—the scene we created, that shapes us and belongs to us. Our art carries talent, power, and truth. We’re talking about our music, our culture, our territory—and the living force that pulses through all of it.
It is only in the last few years that we see the international clubbing and electronic music world slowly opening up for Brazilian DJs. What more still needs to be done on an international level to further support Brazilian artists and in general black artists outside of the west?
Kabulom: We need to be able to be open to getting to know others and embracing different cultures. I believe that this way we can observe other artists and create these transformative connections. Because music is a transformative connection, right? So when we let our ears and eyes be guided to hear and see different things, we will certainly be able to learn more, value and identify where these potentials are, whether they are in Brazil or in the world. I believe in music as a universal language, a feeling that can be transmitted, but we need to open ourselves up to this, perhaps giving up a privileged place, perhaps knowing that when we invest in the future of others, we reap a collective future.
Omoloko: Brazil has always been a fertile, radiant ground when it comes to music and culture. Our sonic history reverberates across the world, influencing generations and movements. For a long time, we welcomed international artists with open arms, and our music traveled the globe—but we were rarely given the same space abroad. Watching that tide shift, seeing Brazilian artists taking global stages and gaining attention in the industry, is deeply moving. But beyond visibility, we need dignity: Covered travel, fair fees, real infrastructure. The world must see us not just as emerging Latin voices, but as the owerful, ancestral and contemporary creative forces we truly are.
Tell us more about your event Mathosa and what shall people expect of your collaboration with Your Love at Panorama Bar?
Kabulom: Mathosa is a party that creates connections through black music, because we believe that music is a key that can open transformative boxes within our hearts. For the first Mathosa party outside of Brazil, in the bar scene, we can expect this passion that we have for music, and of course we will show this in our passionate Brazilian way of consuming music and involving rhythm to build our narrative, our way of telling our stories. Mathosa is a party that involves rhythm as a feeling and that prioritises highlighting the connections that can be created and that can be surprising too.
Omoloko: Mathosa is a space of sonic range—of unlikely encounters, experimentation, and shared knowledge. To share this night with Kabulom, Lakuti and Tama Sumo in one of the world’s most iconic clubs will be a milestone, a rite. Friends are traveling from afar to witness this moment. It will be a night of deep connection—a living celebration that will echo not only through dancing bodies, but through hearts wide open to feeling.
Your Love presents Mathosa: A Brazilian Love Affair
June 20th, 10 PM
Panorama Bar
