Bissau: Fashion, flair and hip-hop

Bissau: Fashion, flair and hip-hop

Advertisement

With their own flamboyant sense of style, young rappers Willpack Danfa (left) and Seco Dabo reflect something of the colourful and eclectic fashion of Bissau.

The city is the capital of Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony which still has strong cultural ties to other Portuguese-speaking nations from Angola to Brazil. Its dress sense is influenced by anything from West African traditions to American hip-hop.

. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Reuters photographer Joe Penney shot a series of portraits of Willpack Danfa's friends and family in the crowded Mistra neighbourhood of Bissau.

1 / 9

Slideshow

Benedita Danfa braids the hair of her sister Satu.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Benedita Danfa braids the hair of her sister Satu.

Mamadu Darame poses for a picture.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Mamadu Darame poses for a picture.

Wearing a yellow dress, Nhama Mane poses for a photograph.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Wearing a yellow dress, Nhama Mane poses for a photograph.

Mistra resident Babucar Silla dances for the camera.
. BISSAU, GUINEA-BISSAU. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Mistra resident Babucar Silla dances for the camera.

Salon Danfa poses for a photograph.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Salon Danfa poses for a photograph.

Fatu Sake (left) and Fanta Silla, two friends, pose for a picture in Mistra.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Fatu Sake (left) and Fanta Silla, two friends, pose for a picture in Mistra.

Rapper Willpack Danfa poses for a photograph in front of a wall painted with the word "thug".
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Rapper Willpack Danfa poses for a photograph in front of a wall painted with the word "thug".

Sadja Ndja, 18, poses with her hands on her hips.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Sadja Ndja, 18, poses with her hands on her hips.

A woman poses for a photograph in the Mistra district of Bissau.
. BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A woman poses for a photograph in the Mistra district of Bissau.

"Clothes reading “50 Cent” or “Thug Life” are commonplace, and Rihanna’s latest hits blare out from rusty radios beneath the mango trees."
Joe Penney, Reuters Photographer

If you drive through the Mistra neighbourhood of Bissau - the charming, ramshackle capital of Guinea-Bissau - signs of peoples’ love for American hip-hop are everywhere.

The local football pitch is named “California” after Tupac’s song “California Love.” Clothes reading “50 Cent” or “Thug Life” are commonplace, and Rihanna’s latest hits blare out from rusty radios beneath the mango trees.

While a fondness for American hip-hop is shared throughout West Africa (Tupac is nearly everyone’s favourite rapper), Guinea-Bissau’s unique cultural influences give it its own distinctive style.

A colony of Portugal until 1974, the small, West African nation maintains strong cultural and economic links to other Portuguese-speaking countries including Angola and Brazil.

As a result, Guinea-Bissau’s fashion sense is a mix of hip-hop, flamboyant Angolan “kuduro” style, and more traditional West African outfits.

People dress boldly and creatively, favouring bright colours (including lots of neon!) which stand out against the red earth and pale, concrete walls of the capital.

Bissau-Guineans seem far less conservative than their francophone neighbours Senegal and Guinea. Here, the semi-tropical climate and Portuguese creole give the country a Latin American feel.

Earlier this month I was covering the final day of presidential campaign rallies in Bissau, and I was inspired by the general originality with which people dressed. I felt remarkably uncool by contrast.

At an event for the country’s main party, PAIGC, I met Willpack Danfa, a young rapper from Mistra district, who was attending with some of his friends. After taking pictures at the rally, I went to Danfa’s house a few days later to shoot portraits of him, his friends and family around the neighbourhood.

They were initially shy but nearly everyone got into it, posing in their best outfits. I was even treated to some freestyle rap.