Bongo Kuenda was born Barcela de Carvalho and he comes from Angola. He grew up in the shanty towns outside Luanda and, as well as absorbing the sounds of modern Angolan music, he became involved in the fight for independence from the Portuguese. He had to flee to exile, first to Holland and then France. At one time he was a professional footballer for the club Benfica as well as a 400-metre champion runner and in this capacity was able to travel to different countries. 
While living in Paris in the 1970s Bonga recorded many excellent albums and his songs feature on numerous compilations including the track 'Diarabi' on Manu Dibango's Wakafrika. He was the first to sing 'Sodade', now made famous by Cesaria Evora.
Bonga sings in calao, a language that mixes Portuguese and Kimbundu. As well as singing in his very distinctive rather rough voice he plays the dizanka, an Angolan bamboo strummer and occasionally the puita, a fairly rarely heard friction drum. His songs have Brazilian influences as well as indigenous Angolan Semba sounds and he has worked with musicians from several different countries. He stayed on in Paris and Lisbon after Angola's independence and was critical of the post-colonial