Mayra Andrade

Mayra Andrade (born 13 February 1985) is a Cape Verdean singer who lives and records in Lisbon, Portugal.

Mayra Andrade
Background information
Born (1985-02-13) 13 February 1985
Havana, Cuba
OriginCape Verde
GenresMorna
Funaná
Batuque
Coladeira
Colá
Jazz
Afrobeats
World music
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Voice
Years active2001–present
WebsiteMayra-Andrade.com

Background

Andrade was born in Havana, Cuba, to parents from Cape Verde, and she and her family returned to Cape Verde a few days after her birth. Andrade spent the first years of her life in Cape Verde, but because her father was a diplomat for the Cape Verdean government, she traveled extensively with her family and lived in many countries during her childhood. Hence, during her childhood, she lived in Senegal, Angola, and Germany.[1] However, she spent around two months of the year[1] in the Cape Verdean island of Santiago.[2] Andrade moved to Paris in 2002 when she was 17 years old[3] and lived there until late 2015 when she moved to Lisbon, Portugal.[4]

She is multilingual, but most of the lyrics of the songs on her albums are in her native Cape Verdean Crioulo language. The first song she remembers singing is "O Leãozinho" by the Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, whom she has cited as a musical influence.[5]

Career

Andrade often performed as a teenager,[5] beginning voice lessons in Paris at age 17.[1] During this time, she also met the composer Orlando Pantera and began collaborating with him.[5] Andrade then began to perform in various Portuguese-speaking regions, including the Cape Verdean cities Mindelo and Praia as well as Lisbon.[6]

In 2011, she collaborated with Trio Mocotó on the track "Berimbau" for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album was a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales were donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.

Andrade stated that her fourth album, Lovely Difficult, released in November 2013, was less traditional than her first three efforts and more pop, with collaborations with artists from the United States, Israel, France, and the United Kingdom[7] and songs in Portuguese, Cape Verdean creole, French, and English.[8]

Andrade's fifth album, Manga, was released on 8 February 2019.[9] The album was recorded in Paris and Abidjan and features a mixture of afrobeats, urban music, and traditional Cape Verdean rhythms.[9][10]

Since 2015, Andrade has served as a celebrity ambassador for the United Nations campaign "Free and Equal", which seeks to promote the human rights of the LGBT community in Cape Verde.[11]

Awards and nominations

At age 16, Andrade won the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie songwriting contest.[6]

Andrade won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics Award) for her album Navega in 2007 and for Stória, stória... in 2009.[12][13] She also won the Newcomer award at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008.[2]

In 2013, she was nominated in the music category of the 21st Femmes en Or prize.[14]

In 2014, her album Lovely Difficult was nominated in France for the Victoires de la Musique Award, in the World Music category.[15]

Discography

Albums
Year Album Peak positions Certification
FRA
[16]
2006 Navega 124
2009 Stória, stória... 157
2010 Studio 105 —
2013 Lovely Difficult 98
2019 Manga 122
[17]

References
  1. Jaggi, Maya (26 March 2008). "Mayra Andrade, voice of Cape Verde". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  2. Lusk, Jon. "Mayra Andrade". BBC Radio 3. BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  3. Carinya Sharples. "Ten minutes with... Mayra Andrade". Arise Live. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  4. "Mayra Andrade: "hoje as coisas estão a acontecer de forma muito mais rápida e democrática"". Conexão Lusófona (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  5. Brown, Helen (27 September 2007). "Mayra Andrade: Beats on a collarbone". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  6. Gutierrez, Evan C. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  7. Cláudia Marques (21 August 2013). "Já não tenho justificações a dar, quis agora fazer algo por prazer". Sapo Musica. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013. (Portuguese)
  8. Marcelo Monteiro (22 August 2013). "Entre África, Europa e Brasil: ouça o novo single de Mayra Andrade". O Globo. Retrieved 23 August 2013. Portuguese
  9. "Mayra Andrade já lançou o seu novo single "Manga"" (in Portuguese). CA Noticias. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  10. "Mayra Andrade lança "Manga", "uma fruta que faz bem ao coração"" (in Portuguese). Sapo24. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  11. "Journée internationale des droits de l'homme au Cap Vert : Lancement de la campagne Libres et Egaux" (in French). United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. "Bestenliste 2-2007". Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  13. "Bestenliste 4-2009". Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. 15 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  14. "Femmes en Or 2013 : la liste des nommées dévoilée !". Femmes en Or. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013. (French)
  15. "Les nommés des 29ème Victoires de la Musique sont..." Premiere. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014. (French)
  16. "Mayra Andrade discography". lescharts.com. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  17. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 7, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
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