Al Mati

𝘼𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙞, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙚-𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣, 𝘿𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙖, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣 — 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘, 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚-𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙.

Born under the shadow of Salazar’s dictatorship, Mesquita’s pacifism led him to refuse conscription to the colonial wars — a decision that cost him everything, forcing him into exile and a life spent crossing borders both literal and musical. From busking on the streets of Paris with his close friend Bruno Scoriels to near-death escapes across the Pyrenees, his story reads like a bohemian odyssey. Settling eventually in Amsterdam’s Bijlmermeer district, a multicultural hub alive with influences from Suriname, Angola, Brazil, and beyond, he built a studio that became a crossroads for diasporic sounds and a laboratory for new fusions.

One of the tracks from this remarkable record was later sampled by The Alchemist on his album "The Elephant Man’s Boots", a testament to Al Mati’s far-reaching influence and the timeless quality of his compositions.

Through projects like Albatros, Comoção, and Mati Africa, Alberto channelled political anger, deep love, and diasporic longing into music that transcended language and geography. His songs were shaped as much by displacement and resistance as by joy and connection — love letters to family, coded protests against oppression, and celebrations of cross-cultural unity.

Passing away in 2021, Mesquita left behind "Some Shit" as a living testament to a life lived in motion. In it, the threads of African rhythm, European folk, and Latin soul converge — not just as styles, but as reflections of a restless, searching spirit who turned his own exile into a radical form of creative belonging.