Coréon Dú

Early life and education

Coréon Dú was born in Luanda, Angola in 1984, to José Eduardo dos Santos and Dr.Maria Luisa Perdigão Abrantes, a lawyer and law professor. He spent the first years of his childhood in Luanda, Angola. A few years after his parents' separation, Coréon moved to Lisbon, Portugal and began living with his maternal grandparents at the age of 8. Coréon later moved to the U.S. to be educated. At the age of 11 he moved with his mother to Northern Virginia near Washington D.C.. While in middle school, he began to pursue singing. During high school he became a soloist in the school choir, and developed a keen interest in musical theatre. Coréon continued to perform in choirs during his time at Loyola University, and went on to earn a BA in mass communications. In 2010 he pursued a master's degree in Dance Theatre: The Body in Performance from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

In the early 2000s, Coréon Dú s first public performances happened with Kizua's band, during some of his cousin's gigs in Luanda nightclubs.

Coréon Dú grew up in a religiously diverse environment. His mother is Catholic, his stepfather was Muslim and his father's family is primarily Methodist. Coréon identifies as Catholic and was educated in Catholic schools from the end of elementary school to university.

Career

Inspired by his trip to the Huíla province of Angola in 2000 during his summer holidays, Coréon started designing clothing using the local Samakaka print and other African inspired textiles. These designs, mainly worn by friends and family, started generating buzz in Luanda and led to the start of his first business venture Z|E Designs with his cousin Emilia Abrantes in 2001. Z|E Designs presented collections in the inaugural Angola Fashion Week in 2001, as well as other local events such as the Moda Luanda Fashion Awards. Another notable participation, as a costume designer, includes the stage play, Jato de Sangue, which featured Brazilian actor Sergio Menezes and Angolan teen TV series Sede de Viver.

On returning to Angola in 2006, Coréon Dú started Semba Comunicação as a boutique branding and communications agency. Over time Semba has evolved into one of Angola's premier content production companies in the Angolan market through projects such as Bounce and Windeck. Windeck premiered in Angola in August 2013 and then went on to record ratings in Portugal's RTP 1 channel afternoon primetime slot. Having been nominated for the best Telenovela at the 2013 International Emmy Awards, it is expanding into the international market with translations into English and French.

Another production is the documentary I Love Kuduro, named after a festival he hosts. This documentary follows stars of this urban phenomenon, including appearances from trans performer and advocate Titica, Nagrelha, Eduardo Paim e Cabo Snoop.

As a musician, he released his debut album, The Coréon Experiment, in 2010. The album was produced by Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian producer Luiz Brasil. Among the album's contributors include musicians such as Luciana Abreu, Irina, Jeff Brown, and Heavy C.

After the album was released, he performed at several events including the XXIX Madrid Jazz Festival where he displayed influence from Semba, Pop, Funk, Bossa Nova, Rock, Kuduro and Kizomba.

In 2013 Coréon celebrated his fan club, WeDú – The Coréon Dú Creative Community with a commemorative remix album "The WeDú Experiment", which features remixes and original material produced in collaboration with Phil Asher, DJ Satellite, DJ Spooky, Daniel Haaksman, Simmons Massini, DJ Manya, Luiz Brasil, Jerry Charbonnier, Lenni Sez and Nuno Mendes. This project was accompanied by a series of conceptual music videos shot using natural and urban landscapes from his home country and some avant-garde that gained a positive response from both fans and critics.

Fashion

After a hiatus since 2007, Coréon Dú has made his return to fashion design with the release of his label "WeDú by Coréon Dú". Though the line has been carried in Angola, Namibia and other select African territories, its premiere outside of Africa happened in the Spring/Summer 2016 edition of New York Fashion Week at the Nylon Magazine official fashion week party on September 10, 2015. According to the artist's recent interviews, WeDú's main objective is to provide comfort and allow each individual to express his or her own creativity in the everyday through how they wear it.

WeDú started as the artists show and appearance merchandise inspired by some of the fans' favorite Coréon Dú stage and street style looks. In 2013 it started being carried as fashion line by an Angolan retailer with shops in Angola and Namibia.

Coréon Dú's model scouting efforts have also led to great successes cited in fashion & lifestyle media including VOGUE Italia.

. He is a regular contributor as judge of Elite Model Look contests in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde & South Africa.

Through Coréon's scouting efforts he discovered notable African models including Amilna Estêvão, the first African model in 30 years to be in Elite Model Look World Final top 3., Maria Borges, Alecia Morais, Elsa Baldaia, Roberta Narciso, among others.

Activism

Coréon is involved in activism and advocates for a variety social causes. Among his efforts is the 2009 documentary series Delinquência? Eu Estou Fora!, aimed at raising awareness juvenile delinquency in Angola, its causes, and alternatives. This was a follow up to the Droga Diga Não ("Drugs – Just Say NO")

project in which he toured the country on speaking engagements to educate and motivate youth groups and local institutions to be more engaged on the issue. He also helped organize free concerts attended by more than 40,000 people at a time. In an effort to advocate for gender equality, he established the Divas Angola Awards in 2007 to celebrate the achievements of women in business, education, fashion, sports, music and philanthropy. Notable international artists such as Latin legend Juan Luis Guerra, the award-winning Adriana Calcanhotto, and Paula Lima have performed past editions of the event in support of the cause of gender equality.

For over a decade he participated in work that had LGBTQ representation and aesthetics, such as his work as costume designer / stylist for the 2004–2005 youth telenovela "Sede de Viver", with script written by acclaimed author Ondjaki, which had the first ever openly gay character on Angolan television played by actor-comedian Kitengo Kunga, and some of his later body of work in both the social and commercial sphere.

Coréon's was the first production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues in Angola.

In 2008, he produced a sex education program called Sexolândia (Sexland), hosted by singer/model/actress Tatiana Durão, which was considered the first program of its kind to be broadcast on Angolan TV. And since its premiere that same year, the educational space caused said conservatives to complain and also criticize that the program was perverting the minds of young people, although it was still popular and because it and also in most cases was politically incorrect. Health professionals such as psychologists and other experts were invited on the show, who would answer questions in the studio for interaction, and on the street, public figures who shared personal life histories on a wide range of topics of this world of human sexuality: relationships, infertility, pregnancies, abuses, sex toys, prostitution, pornography, "STD" prevention advices, etc.

Model scouting and talent mentoring

Coréon Dú's talent and mentoring skills have been recognized in his homeland of Angola, but have recently started grabbing attention outside of Angola.

His model scouting efforts have also led to launching careers of some of the most recognizable African models within the fashion industry including Maria Borges, Amilna Estevão, Alécia Morais, Blésnya Minher and Roberta Narciso. This began in 2009 when he was invited by Elite Model Management in Paris to be scout for models to introduce to their network of bookers and agencies at the Elite Model Look World Final in 2010. He scouted and held local editions of the contest in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, & South Africa until 2013.

During that time, he founded Da Banda Model Management in which he scouted and coached African models to provide with the knowledge and tools to strive within the international market, as well as introducing them to modelling agencies and casting directors internationally as their mother agency. Da Banda, a part of the Semba Comunicação Group, was also responsible for organizing the Elite Model Look Contests in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and South Africa.

Coréon's scouting and mentoring efforts yielded results from the start with one of his first discoveries being Roberta Narciso who became a finalist in the Elite Model Look World Final and made her debut January 2011 at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the Valentino show. She then made history becoming one of the first few Black models to have been in a Prada runway show in Milan which made international headlines and was seen by some fashion insiders as an opening of doors for more models of color to work for international fashion brands who primarily cast Caucasian models.

Maria Borges was also scouted and trained by Coréon and his team at the same time. Though she did not win the 2010 Elite Model Look Angola contest, she has become a successful alumna. In 2011 she moved to Lisbon, Portugal where she was hand-picked by Riccardo Tisci for an exclusive deal with Givenchy which catapulted her into international stardom. Since then Maria has cemented her career as an international supermodel, with a record number of participations in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, countless international campaigns and covers and a coveted brand ambassadorship with Riccardo Tisci.

Personal life and relatives

Coréon Dú has been known to be openly gay since very early in his career and has appeared prominently on LGBT+ media, especially since starting to gain international visibility between 2012 and 2014 which tabloids speculated about through his social media postings.

He has several relatives in the world of music, such as Liceu Vieira Dias, Beto Gourgel, Carlitos Vieira Dias, André Mingas, and Kizua Gourgel.

Coréon Dú comes from a musical family. His grandfather's cousin, Liceu Vieira Dias was a founding member of Ngola Ritmos. His uncle, musician Carlitos Vieira Dias played a role in introducing Coreon to Filipe Mukenga and Filipe Zau, two of Angola's most iconic composers. They wrote Serpente and Ilha, respectively, which became one of Coreon's biggest songs to date. Liceu's nephew, André Mingas was also a guiding force as he wrote Lemba, which was well received in Angola. His father's first cousin, Beto Gourgel, was one of Angola's most well known comedians & musicians. His son, Kizua Gourgel, is also a successful singer-songwriter from Angola.

His maternal first cousins Glen Abrantes and Emanuel Abrantes are models based in London.

His step-cousin Sharam Diniz is a Portuguese-Angolan model and entrepreneur who was the first model originating from either Angola or Portugal to walk for Victoria's Secret annual fashion show.

Name changes

In 2001 he was known professionally by his childhood nickname Zé Dú, using "Zé Dú dos Santos" as his professional name. He later changed his name to avoid "political connotations" associated with his work and name, as the same nickname was used to refer to his father Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Before the release of his first album in 2010 he briefly used José, and his full last name Paulino dos Santos dropping Eduardo from his first name. Since 2010 he has been using the name Coréon Dú exclusively in most of his professional and artistic work.

Prior to the 1992 Angolan election, very few people used the name "Zé Dú" to refer to José Eduardo dos Santos (Coréon Dú's father, and second president of Angola). Election campaign marketers popularized this name since then and this branding of the name "Zé Dú" associated with the elder Dos Santos has become a part of pop culture, especially after Angola's peace accord in 2002.

Coréon Dú has established himself as somewhat of an independent thinker focused on arts, empowering young Angolans with creative talent, as well as creating visibility opportunities for LGBTQ professionals locally and regionally. The "black sheep" of the dos Santos family is often considered politically incorrect by the status quo. His lack of desire to associate himself with politics led to his name change, and he remains politically neutral.

Coréon refuses to publicly endorse anything political as seen in his social media, public statements, and most public appearances. Angolan entertainment news outlet shared a video excerpt of an Instagram live chat between Coréon and his fans where he mentions his fears of returning to Angola due to threats to his safety and potential political violence against him.

Discography

Awards and accolades

After well known Mexican journalist Luis GyG considered him Africa's best kept secret in 2014, Coréon Dú has been considered by Forbes to be one of the 15 Young African Creatives Rebranding Africa the following year.

Criticism and controversies

LGBT representation in his works

He has also come under fire by Angolan media religious groups and political groups for the inclusion of LGBT talent and issues in the TV shows produced by Semba Comunicação, including openly gay presenters such as Hady Lima (who started his career presenting as a gay male, but has recently shared her gender identity as a trans-woman).

Windeck, the soap series written and produced by Coréon, has had some similar issues due to well-known actors, such as leading man Freddy Costa and Borges Macula, playing gays characters.

This controversy was reignited after a brief kiss between two of the male characters of Semba Comunicação's soap opera Jikulumessu on January 28, 2015. As series creator Coréon Dú and production company Semba came under fire, being accused by religious groups, conservative politicians on all sides and conservative local press alleging he was trying to "corrupt moral values", as well as "promote" and "expand" "deviant behaviours " and "homosexual behaviours" in Angola and especially among young viewers. On February 2, 2015, the show's broadcaster in TPA (Televisão Pública de Angola) suspended the show's broadcast at 9 pm its TPA 1 channel alleging "technical difficulties". In a public statement posted on the show's Facebook page and sent to the press services in Angola, Semba Communication stated that the intent of the show in portraying seriously sensitive social issues, such as Polygamy, drug use, sexual violence, as well as LGBT issues, including violence against people and same-sex relationships, and committing suicide in the LGBT communities.

Semba offered the ability to edit the scene so that it did not clash with the views and values of its customers' audiences. While conservative viewers celebrated it, fans of the show expressed their displeasure especially through social media. This incident became headline news nationally and caught the attention of international media outlets. On February 5, 2015, TPA returned Jikulumessu to the air after fans pleas for its return. Despite this politically motivated censorship of Coréon Dú's work, Jikulumessu has become one of the most beloved television shows amongst many African viewers in the continent alongside Windeck according major French and English speaking media outlets including Nigeria's Guardian newspaper.

France Télévisions and in the diaspora having been broadcast in Portuguese, French and English Languages in many regional broadcasters and in France on France Televisions and Canal+, among others.

Political controversies

In interviews Coréon Dú mentioned his choice to no longer live in Angola full-time since 2014 and indefinitely leaving his home-country in 2017 due to being a target of a growing institutionalized homophobia and increasing political intolerance. When interviewed in 2019, by Portugal's National News Agency LUSA, about new Angolan laws decriminalizing "Acts against nature" as being synonymous with decriminalizing LGBTQ+ relationships, he cautioned that these regulatory changes seemed vague and may have been publicity driven to appeal to Angola's vast young electorate of voters. However further real regulatory and social education initiatives were needed. Within the same year, 2019, popular musician and LGBTQ+ rights advocate Titica announced publicly that Angola's public government-owned broadcaster TPA has forbidden her from being on any of their television programs because she is a transsexual person.

Between 2017 and 2018 the election of Angola's new president, the new leader of the country and former vice president of the ruling party MPLA have started a veritable witch hunt against anyone with the "dos Santos" last name including campaigns of public intimidation campaigns and now attempting to jail his older siblings who served in public companies. the new leader of the country and MPLA have been running a large campaign against all the dos Santos family, including Coréon Dú. Angola's leadership have vehemently denied any witch-hunts in all public press releases locally and internationally, however their actions consistently prove otherwise. Following the new government's very public decision to end the content production and brand consulting agreements between public station TPA with Coréon's company Semba Comunicação, they invoked several false and contractually inaccurate allegations. The main allegations were that the channels were returning to the "public ownership" when they were always publicly owned and only using Semba's services. Semba never owned any of the three TPA channels, and has had to clarify for many years its position as a service provider.

After public dismay of the new programming and cancellation of some favourite television shows in January 2018 the Angolan Government's new leadership tried to save face and approval ratings by throwing Coréon and his company under the bus. The company responded with a public statement clarifying its role and even how much it was earning for its content services in comparison to the publicly published yearly national television budget (Semba produced most of the entertainment and promotional content for two of the three TPA channels reportedly charging under fees approximating only one-fifth of the budget spent on the main TPA channel). To excuse their poor image quality and the embarrassment of being exposed the new government used all the national public media to announce that Semba had stolen the HD equipment previously used to make TPA's channel 2 and international channel programming, however many well known employees of the channel have all throughout the year posed and posted pictures boasting about exactly the same HD equipment having always been in TPA's studios and currently in use. To which the station and Ministry of Social Communication of the country then made a public statement with the excuse that the lack of image quality was due to a temporary technical difficulty that was soon to be resolved. They alleged using a series of news stories and social media fake news campaigns that companies allegedly linked to Coréon were receiving large sums of money to produce content for TPA, while for years there has been public knowledge of TPA's history of late or non-payments to Semba and many of its private sector vendors. There was even recent controversy involving the administration admitting that due to lower ratings they would need to rehire Semba's former talent/ employees due to significantly lowered ratings after all Semba-produced content was taken off the TPA airwaves. This was followed by some protests by TPA employees claiming the decision to publicly shame the company and associated talent and then rehire talent individually has put the station in the position where they are now paying very expensive reparations to get that talent back.