José Eduardo Paulino dos Santos (born September 28, 1984), also known by his stage name Coréon Dú, is an Angolan recording artist, creative director, designer, screenwriter, producer, entrepreneur, and activist. He is known for his distinct Angolan musical style, fashion choices and his contributions to projects inspired by Angolan Pop culture in music, dance, fashion, TV and films.
Among his works are projects such as the writing and production of Seoul International Drama Award-winning and International Emmy-nominated series Jikulumessu, the International Emmy-nominated telenovela, Windeck, the I Love Kuduro documentary, as well as his current work popularizing Angolan-inspired projects through his independent entertainment company Da Banda.
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.
Coréon's second album's first single "Bailando Kizomba" was released in February 2014 and remained within the top 30 positions of the Billboard Latin Charts from the Spring of 2014 to the Fall of 2014.
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.
Since then Coréon Dú has tried to integrate his interest in pro-youth and cultural activism dynamically into his work. He developed |Bounce which is a contest to allow further study and apprenticeship opportunities to disadvantaged youths with dance talent. in 2008, Bounce started being broadcast on local television which has given opportunities for talented young individuals to study dance with dance companies and dance centers in Portugal, the United States and Brazil. The most recent edition of Bounce was held in 2013. The contest has produced some of the biggest dance related celebrities in Angolan pop culture including dancer/choreographer Manuel Kanza who has been teaching kuduro, afrobeat and hip hop classes all over the world. Dance troupe turned girl band As Afrikanas are also among notable Bounce alumni, as well as Felix Alvarez a Cuban refugee who was a finalist in the first season of Bounce and has become one of the most sought after dancers / choreographers in Angola. Success stories from Bounce are also gaining international prominence as two young Angolan dancers who earned scholarship prizes from the contest are performing on international stages. Geovany Carvalho performed in the 2016 Summer Olympics opening in Rio de Janeiro where he currently works as a dance instructor. Dilo Paulo has also relocated to Brazil where he is performing and touring with the prestigious Debora Colker contemporary dance company.
Semba was at the time the only production company that did not censor Angolan superstar Titica from their programming after she was banned from most local media and events for publicly revealing that she was a trans woman. She was also prominently featured in Coréon Dú's I Love Kuduro Festival in Angola, Berlin and in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the eponymous documentary, which has helped her ascend into international success and further visibility to her commercial and non-profit efforts. After this period and international success many local media outlets allowed Titica to showcase her projects on their airwaves. However, in 2019 the artist announced on her social media that Angola's public broadcasters had once again forbidden her from being in any of their programmes, because she a transsexual woman
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.