In the early 2000s we knew him as rap artist Chullage. He now goes by the name of Xullaji to better reflect the phonetics of Cabo Verdean Creole. He was born in Lisbon three years after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, but he describes himself as “of Cabo Verdean origin, raised in the Margem Sul”, the working-class “South Bank” of the River Tagus across from Lisbon. Born to a Cabo Verdean mother and father, he grew up in Porto Brandão in the Asilo 28 de Maio, an old quarantine block repurposed during the 1970s to house families arriving from the former Portuguese colonies in Africa.

One of those aptitude tests they’d give you at school in the 1990s pushed him to train as a machinist. He worked in the Autoeuropa car plant and got a degree in sociology of work. All things that may seem irrelevant, but that in fact are key to his music. He lives and works in Arrentela, in the municipality of Seixal. And, although it goes unsung, he is one of Portugal’s best lyricists.

After this introduction came a clarification: “Hi, everyone. Thanks for being here. Just one thing: my language isn’t a creole, OK? It’s called Cabo Verdean. Cabo Verdean is done being a creole; it’s a language, just like Portuguese, English or French. Cabo Verde is a country where they speak Cabo Verdean.”

And when the organizers of the event asked him to speak “slowly”, so that the automatic translation system could process the conversation, to make it available in English, he shot back: “I won’t talk for the machine! As a human, I won’t surrender myself or my personal expression to machines.”

Then we got into the conversation. You can hear it all here or wherever you get your podcasts.

SOME NAMES YOU WILL HEAR DURING THE INTERVIEW

Chullage: his street name.

Xullaji: Chullage written to reflect Cabo Verdean Creole phonetics.

Prétu: art project born of Xullaji’s need to create his own music and visuals. It unites all his influences: Cabo Verdean and Angolan protest music and electronic music in general—drum and bass, house, techno.

Peles Negras, Máscaras Negras [Black Skin, Black Masks]: a “theatre of blackening” group; Xullaji is co-founder. Through non-hierarchical debate, the group aims to encourage people to reflect on the realities of the African community living in the peripheries. The group’s name is a subversion of the title of Franz Fanon’s book Black Skin, White Masks.

Tabanka Sul: a collective space in Arrantela, Seixal for rehearsals, production, debates and gatherings. Their doors are always open for “local people”, inviting them to produce or rehearse.

Khapaz: social support association co-founded by Xullaji in Arrentela.

Albums: Rapresálias | Sangue Lágrimas Suor (2001); Rapensar | Passado Presente Futuro (2004); Rapressão (2012); 1 prétu. xei di Kor (2023).

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