Lisbon’s most essential label, Príncipe Discos pushes batida, kuduro, and experimental club sounds to the world. From DJ Marfox to Nídia, it’s local music with global impact — raw, urgent, and totally original.
Walk through Lisbon on a summer night — you’ll hear it. Kicks like whip cracks, layered rhythms folding into each other, and raw vocals echoing out of passing cars, neighborhood parties, or a smoke-filled basement club. That sound is batida, and no label has carried it further than Príncipe Discos.
Founded in 2011 by Pedro Gomes, Nelson Gomes, and José Moura, Príncipe emerged as a platform for Lisbon’s Afro-diasporic music scene — rooted in the city’s housing projects, DIY parties, and immigrant neighborhoods. But it didn’t just document that scene — it amplified it, stylized it, and pushed it onto a global stage.
Batida draws from kuduro, tarraxinha, kizomba, techno, ghetto house, and more — but when it’s filtered through the minds of producers like DJ Marfox, DJ Nigga Fox, Nídia, and Puto Tito, it becomes something else entirely: urgent, experimental, local and global all at once.
What sets Príncipe apart isn’t just the music — it’s the vision. Every release is 100% local, recorded and pressed in Lisbon. The design — courtesy of visual artist Márcio Matos — is consistent and abstract, with each release getting its own hand-drawn look. The records are physical artifacts. Rough. Playful. Untouchable.
Some essential releases:
- DJ Marfox – Eu Sei Quem Sou (2011) — the one that kicked the doors open
- Nídia – Nídia é Má, Nídia é Fudida (2017) — a breakout, globally-acclaimed
- DJ Nigga Fox – Cartas na Manga (2019) — wild, genreless, future-forward
- Tia Maria Produções – Lei da Tia Maria (2022) — polyrhythmic madness
Príncipe isn’t just a label — it’s a live force. Their parties at Musicbox (monthly) and takeovers at international venues like Berghain, Unsound, and Le Guess Who? turn dancefloors into pressure cookers. No headliners. Just a deep roster and serious sound pressure.
It’s also become an incubator. Artists like Nídia and DJ Lycox have gone on to collaborate with international acts, feature in Boiler Rooms, and headline nights across Europe. But their sound is still unmistakably Lisbon.
In a city where much of the electronic scene leans inward or overseas, Príncipe looks out — and under. It documents what's happening in the streets and turns it into something sharp, futuristic, and entirely its own. Most recently we saw them absolutely shell down their stage at Sonar festival, and what a way to kick off the sumer circuit it was.
New releases forthcoming, stay in the loop.
