A MOZAMBICAN rapper who moved to the Highlands has released a new single with the help of a Scottish music studio.
Eufragio Manguele, 32, is based in Drimnin having first moved to the UK around the end of 2019.
Prior to this, he had earned a degree in hotel management in Portugal before spending time in the US.
He and his partner run a B&B in the area and Manguele (below) told The National they had long been fascinated by the landscape and history of the Highlands.
“Before coming to Scotland, we always thought it was a great country,” he says.
“I don’t know if it’s fortunately or unfortunately but I think everybody who hasn’t been to Scotland before hears all about Edinburgh.
“I didn’t know much about the Highlands but was fascinated by the landscape and had this dream of one day coming here just to see the Northern Lights.
“The first time we came here was for the interview to work with Drimnin Estate and we fell in love straight away.”
He added: “These sense of community here is something amazing. It’s a place that has a lot of history and the connection people have is strong.
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“There’s so many people here who have come from other parts of Scotland or the UK and everyone knows the importance of connecting with other people because they maybe don’t have relatives here.”
Interest in music
Manguele has held an interest in music from a young age, having first started making rap music in 2005 for a bit of fun.
“There were a few boys in my neighbourhood who enjoyed rap and so we started making it together,” he explains.
“But then we started meeting people who made it seriously and it was all about the problems in society.
"I come from a family where my father always wanted me to be interested in understanding all these concepts because he was brought up while Mozambique was still in colony.
“He wanted to raise me and my sister as people who were interested in what was happening in society and I found people who were rapping about things like this.
“It started off as a sort of ‘cool’ thing but then I really fell in love with it.”
He adds that he further developed his interest when he moved to Portugal in 2008 and that he started to take things more seriously.
“I would write a lot of songs and just upload them to YouTube. Some local people who ran various events saw my song called me and supported me with production and to perform at events happening in the village,” he explains.
New song
The rapper’s new song – Rule the World – was recorded in Mozambique with guest vocals from rock singer Michel Rui as well as at Watercolour Music Studios close to Manguele’s Highland home.
Asked about what this song was about, he said it was “special” because it connects him with his father, who died a few years ago.
“Mozambique is facing a lot of problems socially and politically and that’s what the song is reflecting on,” he says.
“I wanted to counter the aggressive nature of many rap songs, so I took a different path, without ceasing to be critical.
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“Rule the World is not about selfish ambition, it’s my feelings for what I would like our world to be. I see the generations to come, and I want them to be proud of us.
“I believe that only we, who are alive now, can change our world.”
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