MY AFRICAN MIND from BOFADACARA on Vimeo.

Nástio Mosquito is a performance artist, multi-media creator, writer, and all around provocateur. He first caught our attention when he collab’d with the BOFA da CARA collective on the video “My African Mind” (above). His work has a no bullsh*t air about it, and as we recently found out, his answers to interview questions take the same approach. Read on to see why we’re fascinated with this cheeky Angolan artist.

Kate Bomz for Okayafrica: Nástio, you are a well-rounded performer, videographer, poet, writer, essentially a jack of all trades, what do you think you are the master of?

NM: I think it’s way too early for that kind of reflection… but I guess I feel like neither Donald Trump nor P. Diddy could intimidate me on stage! Bill Clinton could f**k up my focus lol!

OKA: Going through your work, there is a lot of sexual innuendos. Are you trying to send a message through your art about sexuality or is it personal?

NM: In my work I do not try, I do. Sex is a big part of my…existence. It is something that I do not totally understand…my relationship with it or why it comes up in a lot that I do…Would you really call that innuendos?

OKA: From an artistic point of view, what do you think about African homophobic policies? How does this affect to your work?

NM: I can speak very little about this… fortunately Angola is a country where the law does not legitimate homophobic behavior, there are no homophobic driven policies. It is violent to me to see what happens in a lot of countries in the continent…I have no respect for blind, irrational, supremacy-driven preservation behavior of any f**king kind. Sometimes my work is driven by establishing that…I guess.

OKA: In the Revista Chocolate publication, you’ve described marriage as a whiff that reminds you of the worst bathroom, What are your traditional views of the roles of man and woman in the African context?

NM: I do not know…that is a very big question. I feel I cannot answer that without bullsh*tting…I try not to…bullsh*t I mean.

OKA: How do you fund your creative projects?

NM: I work a lot and pray that all works out…so far so good; having people willing to contribute to my work really helps. But I want to do bigger things…The question of financing projects is starting to be a big one.

OKA: Being you are from Angola, what are your thoughts about the general exclusion of Lusophone Africa in Africa Narratives. Or is it that Lusophone Africa excludes itself?

NM: I do think it excludes itself…Lusofone Africa has a kind of boring approach to things…and I’m not sure attitudes are changing. There are, I must say, exciting individuals out here. As a whole I think it is ultimately a matter of attitude. The Portuguese were…we negotiated way too much with them. So much we kind of look alike…in too many things. I do not know…

OKA: What barriers do you face, that you feel are due to being from a Portuguese-speaking African country and overall constraints of being an artist in Angola?

NM: I really have never thought about that…

OKA: What are your thoughts on the global perception of an “African” artist?

NM: F**k that…nothing but boring thoughts regarding that. We need to work and put ourselves out there… Yes art moves in a political circle, but with the world we have today we just need to have a solid, consequent plan. And make sure we understand who is Caesar and how we are going to put it/him on a diet; and make sure we grow… Sh*t I feel a bit diabolical. LOL.

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OKA: Blow our minds here, Is there more to Angola than Kuduro? your thoughts on the rise of its popularity across the continent and globally?

NM: I’m not a fan, but it is undeniable the power it carries. It came from the people and is still dominated by the people…You know that there is more to Angola than Kuduro, but I do not feel like making of that a clear point. I’m proud of what Kuduro is and how it translates what we, as a nation of plural individuals, are capable of achieving. The top Kuduro artist now is Titica. It is a transvestite…that is possible in Angola, and Kuduro is making Angola look at itself in a way that nothing has done for awhile…not in such an instinctive way. Music must have an explanation as to why it works and spreads…but why search for it? I do want to make music or any other thing that becomes popular, but will not get into the dangerous path of…remember what I said about preservation? That is where one might end up if it doesn’t understand beyond the necessary…simpler answer? The world still likes to dance, and have fun to things that confirms to them that Africans are tribal beings, closer to monkeys than they are LOL… I do not know.

OKA: What can we expect from your new album, “Saindo do Armario” (My Blueprint) ?

NM: You do not need to expect… go to my website and choose which platform you want to buy it!!!