José Eduardo Paulino dos Santos (born September 28,éonDú 1984), also known by his stage name Coréon Dú, is a multilingual Angolan recording artist, creative director, designer, screenwriter and producer. 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.
Biography
Early life
Coréon Dú was born in Luanda, Angola, to Jose Eduardo dos Santos, former President of Angola, and Maria Luisa Perdigão Abrantes, a lawyer. 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.
Coréon Dú comes from a musical family. His grandfather's cousin, Liceu Vieira Dias was a founding member of Ngola Ritmos. His uncle, musician Carlitos Vieira Dias played a role in introducing Coreon to Filipe Mukenga and Filipe Zau, two of Angola's most iconic composers. They wrote Serpente and Ilha, respectively, which became one of Coreon's biggest songs to date.
Liceu's nephew, André Mingas was also a guiding force as he wrote Lemba, which was well received in Angola.His father's first cousin, Beto Gourgel, was one of Angola's most well known comedians & musicians. His son, Kizua Gourgel, is also a successful singer-songwriter from Angola. In the early 2000s, his 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.
Personal life and relatives
Coréon Dú is an openly gay man, which tabloids speculated about through his social media postings.
Coréon's father is Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola as a dictator from 1979 to 2017. His siblings include Isabel dos Santos and José Filomeno dos Santos.
He has several relatives in the world of music, such as Liceu Vieira Dias, Beto Gourgel, Carlitos Vieira Dias, André Mingas, and Kizua Gourgel.
His maternal first cousins Glen Abrantes and Emanuel Abrantes are models based in London.
His step-cousin Sharam Diniz is a Portuguese-Angolan model and entrepreneur who was the first model originating from either Angola or Portugal to walk for Victoria's Secret annual fashion show.
Name changes
When Coréon started his professional career in 2001 he was known professionally as his childhood nickname Zé Dú, using "Zé Dú dos Santos" as his professional name. He later changed his name to avoid political connotations associated with his work and name, as the same nickname was used to refer to his father Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Before the release of his first album in 2010 he briefly used the José, and his full last name Paulino dos Santos dropping Eduardo from his first name. Since 2010 he has been using the name Coréon Dú exclusively in most of his professional and artistic work.
Prior to the 1992 Angolan election, very few people used the name "Zé Dú" to refer to José Eduardo dos Santos (Coréon Dú's father, and second president of Angola). Election campaign marketers popularized this name since then and this branding of the name "Zé Dú" associated with the elder Dos Santos has become a part of pop culture, especially after Angola's peace accord in 2002.