8th of November 2024

17th of July 2024

João Brasil + Lovefoxxx´ "L.O.V.E. Banana", originally released in 2012 on Man Recordings, co-published by Highscore Publishing, is synched to episode 4 of the Apple TV series "Omnivore". Now streaming on Apple TV!

4th of October 2023

Berlin based artist and DJ Daniel Haaksman has been a household name in the field of global music for decades. In 2004, his compilation “Rio Baile Funk Favela Booty Beats” put baile funk for the first time on a global map, fast forward to 2023 when baile funk is inspiring artists such as Travis Scott and Rihanna and leftfield club land has fallen to the avantgarde rhythms from Brasil. In the meantime Daniel Haaksman created Europe´s leading tropical bass label Man Recordings and as an artist released various albums, compilations and remixes.

For “Tudo” Daniel teamed up with one of the pioneering femals voices of baile funk. Deize Tigrona´s career has been forged in the fires of hundreds of bailes in Rio, she sung “Injeção” which was the base for M.I.A.´s breakthrough song “Bucky Done Gon”. Deize has since worked with Diplo, Oliver Dollar and Jesse Rose amongst others and recently toured Europe to enthusiastic response. “Tudo” brings together bumpy funky bass rhythms with European electronica sounds and the trademark voice of Deize Tigrona, demanding to get all together on the dancefloor and jam!

12th of May 2023

Pedro Da Linha, formerly know as PEDRO, is a Portuguese producer and DJ who has been making waves in the underground music scene for several years. With a passion for blending different genres and exploring a vast universe of sounds and diverse references, he is considered to be the main successor to the sound of Buraka Som Sistema.

His EP on Man Recordings, titled "Rua Rosa, 24," showcases Pedro Da Linha's love for rural clubbing. The tracks on the EP are inspired by an ongoing research of popular music in his hometown Lisbon and working with sounds, tunes and chords that are not so frequent to hear on a clubbing night. From accordions to high pitched voices, all gets blended in a warm and round beat that takes on a journey through several neighbourhoods of the Portuguese capital.

Pedro Da Linha's music is characterized by its exploratory nature and its focus on traditional and popular music structures and sounds. On “Rua Rosa, 24”, he delves even deeper into this interest, using his music to explore the anthropological roots of Portuguese music. One of the most striking features of “Rua Rosa, 24” is the way in which Da Linha weaves together musical influences from across the continents.

Overall, “Rua Rosa, 24” is a bold and exciting exploration of the musical connections and influences that have shaped the Portuguese-speaking world. With its cross-continental references and innovative approach to traditional music structures, it is sure to captivate listeners and make them sweat on a dancefloor anywhere in the world.

10th of February 2023

25th of November 2022

"Magma", the second single from Daniel Haaksman´s upcoming album "Sonido Lava", is putting pressure on the dancefloor. With a set of string stabs, a rolling UK funky inspired beat and a surprise bossa nova breakdown , "Magma" is a hot DJ tool ready to get clubs in volcanic excitement.

Besides its dancefloor heat production, "Magma" and its music video, directed by Polish artist Kinga Kielczynska reflect on the current, multi crisis moment we´re living through. It´s like we´re living in magma times, gliding on a fluid ground to uncertainty, not knowing whether our future will be hellish or if mankind still manages to let reason reign. Maybe it´s also likely that on the cooled parts of the former magma, fruitful ground will emerge, giving life to new hopes and possibilites. After all, Magma is deep underneath all our feet.

14th of October2022

The new Daniel Haaksman single "La Mujer Dormida" features Berlin based, Chilean singer MALAGÜERA on the microphone.

“La Mujer Dormida” (“The sleeping woman”) is inspired by a volcano in Mexico called Iztaccíhuatl, between the state of Mexico and Puebla. This volcano also received the name “The sleeping woman", because its form resembles the one of a woman lying on her back. In Aztec mythology, Iztaccíhuatl was a princess who died in grief waiting for her beloved and the gods turned her into a volcano covered in snow.

The song lyrics of “La Mujer Dormida” are also based on the poem "Volcán Osorno" by Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, in which she admires the Osorno volcano and its surrounding landscapes, near lake Llanquihue, in the very south of the huge Latin American continent. In the song lyrics, MALAGÜERA talks as if she was in love with the flame mountain, admiring and adoring it, getting intoxicated by its beauty, its landscape and powerful force.

This is the first single from the 4th album, "Sonido Lava" by Daniel Haaksman, scheduled for a spring 2023 release.

6th of September 2022

26th of August 2022

After their much lauded song "Txê", Berlin´s La Byle return with a new single on Man Recordings. The rave is on on "Grote Billen" (Dutch for "big rumps"), and this time it´s a mashup of Portuguese, English and Dutch that is put into the blend. La Byle teamed up with Dutch newcomer and Tiktoker Pxrple Jazz in this energetic electro baile funk.

"Grote Billen" move to stompede beats, eclectic synths and the hyping lyrics of Sera Kalo, Babix, Pitota and Cara Muru.  With the line "Joga logo, joga com carinho", which means "to give it but with feeling", Babix clearly sets the tone and underlines the quintessence of this baile rave.

Now get on the floor if you got that booty!

21st of July 2022

La Byle is a five piece outfit from Berlin, known for their eclectic global bass sounds. Now they releasead a new single named "Txê" (prounounced "Tshé"). It´s a track inspired both by rasteirinha and salsa choke rhythms. Yes, this is polymath baile funk straight out of the German capital, embodied by the group consisting of Sera Kalo, Cara Muru, Pitota, Babix and Luana Madikera.

Obviously, the Portuguese and English lyrics in "Txê" are all about moving hips. Like Sera Kalo sings: "You get caught up in a daze, when you watch her body shake, and she whine up in your face, youz a sucker for the txê!", the same applies for the Portuguese lyrical parts.

With its juicy lyrics, the irresistible groove and a ultra heavy kick drum resembling the mighty surdo drum, dominant in Brasilian samba rhythms, "Txê" is a tune that will shake many dancefloors and parties this summer.

The original track comes with a killer remix by Daniel Haaksman, who added some "Gasolina" inspired spice to the original version.

So now get into the boss mode, shaking!

5th of March 2022

Berlin´s Freak De L´Afrique already released afro house singles "Mama Eh" and "Akom" with great success on Man Recordings in 2017. The first releases showed that pan-African electronic club sounds are also circulating in the German capital - otherwise more associated with techno - with Freak De L ́Afrique as their #1 ambassadors.

In the meantime, Freak De L ́Afrique have grown to become the leading crew for Afro sounds in Germany. With their parties in Berlin and other major cities, Freak De L ́Afrique mobilise thousands of party enthusiasts. Recently, they launched Freak De L ́Afrique-TV on Youtube.

Now Freak De L ́Afrique ́s new single “Yebo” is ready, and it will further increase Freak De L'Afrique's rising reputation. "Yebo" is probably the first amapiano track straight outta Berlin. For "Yebo", the Freaks brought the South African guest singer Lindi Mlaba into the studio, and one of the bosses of Freak De L'Afrique, DJ Nomi, demands on the microphone: "Macht Mal Lärm, Macht Mal Lärm (Make some noise, make some noise!)”. One can already imagine the noise the smooth track and DJ Nomi`s announcements will produce on the dance floors.

"Yebo" is the first single from the Freak De L ́Afrique debut album "Awosa", which will be released on Man Recordings in May and features a dazzling Berlin interpretation of current African club sounds. For sure, Freak De L'Afrique will continue to make a lot of noise!

8th of October2021

La Habanera” is the name of a well-known aria from Carmen, an opera by Georges Bizet. The aria is originally based on "El Arreglito" by Sebastián de Yradier, a Basque composer. "La Habanera" enjoys great popularity outside the opera world. It´s probably one of the most famous arias in the world, revisited and reinterpreted hundreds of times since its first release in 1875. The aria is sung in Act 1 by the title character Carmen (mezzo-soprano), in it she expresses her indifference to the protestations of love and advances of her numerous suitors.

Daniel accidentally stumbled across the aria while listening to Berlin´s Klassik Radio, noticing that the first notes of "La Habanera" are rhythmically played like a dembow rhythm. Soon he searched for the midi files of the aria, realised its metrics was based on 75bpm - perfect dembow tempo - and sculpted the dub in two days studio time. Shortly after, Daniel met Armenian opera singer Naré, with whom he recorded an additional vocal version of "La Habanera"which will be the second part of this release.

Until then, enjoy the dub version (maybe sing or rap a bit on top of it yourself) and we´ll get back to you soon with probably the first ever dembow aria on 22^nd of October 2021!

15th of April 2021

After a string of highly successful vocal collaboration singles with artists such as Coco Maria ("Porque Te Vas", "La Añoranza") Cibelle ("Corpo/Sujeito) and Çantamarta ("Lluvia"), gathering hundreds of thousands of streams and international radio airplay, Daniel Haaksman is back with a club ready instrumental track.

It´s called "Vem" (Portuguese for "come") and is a melancholic demand to come back - to the dancefloor. Though clubs are still closed in most parts of the world due to the pandemic situation, the human urge to dance in a club or a festival dancefloor amongst fellow dancers has grown to gigantic dimensions in the last couple of months. So what better moment to release "Vem", a track that - in best case - could be enjoyed both on big club sound speakers as well as on a home hi-fi ?

"Vem" comes in a DJ friendly extended version for club and mix use and a beatless version that highlights the melodic parts of the track.

Early DJ support by ÂME, Photay, Addison Groove and DJ Raff amongst others

21st of February 2020

Angola has long been a hot bed for musical innovation. Of couse, immediately kuduro comes to mind when there´s talk about electronic dance music from Angola and the South Western part of the giant continent. But besides kuduro, Angola also birthed a bastard child of kuduro and afro house, called ku house, which was especially popular in the early 2010´s. This relatively obscure term describes tracks that have house tempo, yet the triplety, off-beatish percussion groove of kuduro.

One of the biggest ku house anthems is DJ Havaiana´s “Cazukuta”, originally released in 2012. It immediately became a staple in the Angolan club scene. Soon picked up by Angolan Kuduro MC Francis Boy, the catchy synth line and the irrestible beat morphed into the backing track for the song “Itocota” which became a major success in Portuguese speaking Africa, as well as Portugal.

When DJing in Angola in 2013, Daniel Haaksman randomly picked up the DJ Havaiana instrumental version of “Itocota” and began to play it out in his DJ mixes, always gathering enthusastic responses about the track. Produced on very basic home studio equipment with a modes sound, the original instrumental was confined to mixtape use only. Only 2019 Daniel found out that DJ Havaiana was on Soundcloud and contacted him via Whatsapp to ask whether Havaiana had still the stems for “Cazukuta” as Daniel would´ve loved to mix and arrange it in better sound quality. Luckily, Havaiana kept the beatless mix of “Cazukuta” and sent it to Daniel.

The result is here. “Cazukuta – Daniel Haaksman Edit”, a highly fascinating club track that both combines the innovations of Angolan dance sounds as well as an early Detroit vibe. It´s the perfect in between tune.

“Cazukuta” is a word in the regional Angolan language Quimbundo meaning confusion, clutter, turmoil. It’s also the name of a dance style from Angola. This dance is often showcased during the street Carnival parades or carnival related festivities.  Cazukuta as a genre is a heavier semba, played during the carnival, with many instruments similar to the Brasilian samba school ensemble.

Now dive into this fantastic track and play it out!

21st of November 2019

Ckrono has been Italy´s most innovative tropical bass producers for years. Formerly based in the beautiful city of Florence, together with his former partner Slesh, Ckrono first dabbed in dancehall and tropical vibes. When he moved to Milan in 2017, he soon kicked off “Balera Favela” now easily the biggest tropical bass night in Italy attracting up to 1.500 visitors for each event.

At “Balera Favela” Ckrono forged his passion for baile funk, inviting artists such as Omulu, Deize Tigrona, Marginal Men or Lazy Flow amongst others. Early 2019, together with Milan producer Mace, he released “Vroom Vrau” ft. São Paulo´s MC Bin Laden on Diplo´s Mad Decent label. Soon after, Ckrono played festivals such as Splash (Germany) and clubs across Europe.

Now Ckrono presents his debut single on Man Recordings and it features Florence based MC Ninjinho. We can proudly say that we are pioneering another step in the evolution of baile funk: This is the first official baile funk tune sung entirely in Italian! Ckrono is connecting the dots here, in early baile funk from the late 90s to the early 00s there were often samples used from Mafia movies, especially the tarantela melodies of Southern Italy.

Ckrono teamed up with MC Ninjinho to create “Caramela”.The catchy lyrics portray both children´s favourite sweets but could also be digested in an adult double meaning as marijuana as well as sex. Everybody wants some "Caramela" sometime! Ninjino´s singing in Florentine accent, which almost naturally refers to Brazilian street Portuguese, thus creating a linguistic bridge that amplifies the connection with the motherland of funk

“Caramela” comes with a club friendly mix and and a dub version of the club mix.

22nd of August 2019

The fourth single release from Daniel Haaksman's acclaimed “With Love, From Berlin” album presents a collaboration with legendary Dominican singer and MC Paul St.Hilaire. In “City Life” Hilaire reflects on the sounds and pleasure of living in a large metropolis. 

Paul St.Hilaire soon became a renowned artist under his moniker Tikiman after moving to Berlin in the 1990s. It was his soulful yet dynamic voice that became the trademark vocal of the electronic reggae project Rhythm n Sound. Launched by Berlin techno pioneers Moritz Von Oswald und Mark Ernestus (of Basic Channel fame) in the late 1990s, the project as well as its label Burial Mix became a staple in the world of electronica and the bass continuum. As Daniel Haaksman's album “With Love, From Berlin” is featuring collaborations with international artists residing in Berlin, Paul St. Hilaire aka Tikiman was on top of Daniel's wish list of collaborators. 

The “City Life” single features a dub version by UK´s #1 echo chamber engineer, the legendary Mad Professor. He dubbed out the many musical parts of “City Life” into a trademark Mad Professor dub.

12th of July 2019

French born producer, DJ and nature lover David Monnin, a.k.a. She´s Drunk has recently risen to be one of the most exciting new producer residing in Berlin. His unique approach to beatmaking has raised the attention of numerous artists and DJs across a wide spectrum. After a handful EPs and remixes released in the past years, She´s Drunk underground hit “Amadoda” ft. South African super star Sho Madjozi kicked off his international rise, ensuing single releases on Berlin´s Through My Speakers label and a recent collaboration with Daniel Haaksman + Kalaf on “Occupy Berlin” further causing enthusiastic responses.

Now She´s Drunk releases his debut release on Man Recordings that quite likely will further push his global reputation. The “Lush EP” is packaged in a lush green, displaying some of his carefully grown tropical plants, the humidity they´re producing and the presence they´re radiating in She´s Drunk studio have a direct influence on the equipment that She´s Drunk using. An organic, yet unique electronic texture is created, resulting for this EP in two tracks that show the polymath approach of She´s Drunk when it comes to music making: Here are meticously crafted beats, surprising vocal approaches and a very sensitive feeling for sounds and fabrics.

24th of May 2019

18th of January 2019

"La Añoranza" by Daniel Haaksman is a collaboration track with Berlin based artists such as Coco Maria (Mexico), Dengue Dengue Dengue (Peru) and Ori Kaplan (Israel). Featuring a heavy bass kizomba beat, the trademark flute of Ori Kaplan (Balkan Beat Box) and the sweet voice of Coco Maria, the soothing song reflects on homesickness.

The collaboration emerged when Daniel met Berlin based Mexican DJ Coco Maria and suggested she should sing on a beat that Daniel made with Ori on flute. A debut singer, Maria came to the studio and immediately came up with the idea on singing about homesickness, a feeling that many expats living in Berlin occasionally endure. Daniel then asked Dengue Dengue Dengue to add some additional synths and ready was the very catchy "La Añoranza".

The additional, cumbia influenced remix is by Belém up- and coming talent Will Love, originally from tecno brega super group Gang Do Eletro. The remix fuses cumbia with North East Brazilian vibes. Released on Man Recordings

14th of December 2018

 Based in the Western Polish city of Poznan, Lua Preta are consisting of vocalist and MC Ms. Gia of Angolan descent, and Polish DJ and producer Mentalcut. Together they bring a frenetic mixture of futuristic electronic music and African genres. Their 2016's debut single “Melhor Vai Embora” strongly marked their presence in the scene of African infused club music which led to their first EP  “Emoçoes Coloridas”. Their fresh and unique sound led to 2018 being their breakthrough year with their biggest hit up to date being released ('Quero Mais' featuring Lesotho's Morena Leraba), their first official video being shot entirely in Lisbon and a round of live appearances on festivals and club shows across Europe.

With their debut release on Man Recordings, additional produced by label-boss Daniel Haaksman, Lua Preta move another step forward. Titled “Head On The Moon” this EP features two new tracks. “Cabeça Na Lua” is a heavy hitting, broken beat meets UK funky afro tune reflecting on the need to continue the fight for political and social justice in these grim political times. “Passado” ft. Kevin is a samba and African percussion inspired tune ft. Ms.Gia´s brother Kevin on additional vocals, perfect for maximum club excitement.

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