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| Singer Elida Almeida. (Photo: Brian Cook / Golden Sky Media) |
PRAIA / PARIS - Elida
Almeida is Cape Verde’s newest star, with thousands of fans in Africa and
Europe. She sings, dances, plays the guitar, tells jokes, and makes her
audiences laugh as well as groove. But behind it all, her music carries a
serious message, about the importance of overcoming setbacks, avoiding
unplanned pregnancy and following one’s dreams.
Now 22 years old, Almeida was discovered by the same record producer who launched Cesária Évora, and people who see her in performance or listen to her outstanding debut album - Ora doci Ora margos (Sweet Times Bitter Times) - will be struck by the similarity in background and by her maturity.
Now 22 years old, Almeida was discovered by the same record producer who launched Cesária Évora, and people who see her in performance or listen to her outstanding debut album - Ora doci Ora margos (Sweet Times Bitter Times) - will be struck by the similarity in background and by her maturity.
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| Almeida performs in Paris. (Brian Cook/ Golden Sky Media) |
The audience at a recent concert in Paris, France, for instance, evidently recognized her talent, judging by the waves of affection directed her way. They sang along, danced along and recited
along to the music Almeida performed.
But it wasn’t all
upbeat. Almeida’s songs tell of her rough childhood on the Cape Verdean island
Santiago, where her father died at an early age. She had to move afterwards to
the unfamiliar island of Maio, where she helped to take care of her siblings while
her mother worked as a street vendor. Growing up, she also learned to sing at
church and spent time after school listening to the radio because there wasn’t
much else to do for entertainment, she said in an interview.
“There was no
electricity, so the [battery-operated] radio was really all we had to amuse
ourselves, and I listened to music from Cape Verde, from the United States,
from other countries,” she told SWAN.
As a student, Almeida
had dreams of entering the legal profession, but she became pregnant and gave birth
to a son at age 16, and so had to rethink her future after returning to
Santiago.
She managed to finish
high school and attend college, while caring for her son and coming to the
realization that music was her true passion, not law. She wrote her first real song
at age 17, putting her experiences into the lyrics, and the others that
followed are also autobiographical, she says.
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| Almeida offstage. (Photo: A. McKenzie) |
“My mother was so
disappointed when I became pregnant that she said it was the end of her life,”
Almeida recalls. “But afterwards she was really supportive. She is the reason
that I’m able to tour and perform now, and the family of my son’s Dad are also
helpful.”
Her eyes light up
when she speaks of her five-year-old son, but Almeida readily acknowledges that teenage
pregnancy is a problem in her country as in many others. She stresses that enough
information is not given to young people about their bodies and sexuality, and
she hopes that more schools will implement sexuality education as part of the
curriculum.
“I didn’t know much,”
she told SWAN. “Nowadays girls who are even younger than I was are having
children, at age 14, 15, and they need assistance.”
According to the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), about 20 percent of the children born
in Cape Verde in 2013 were to women under 18 years old, down from nearly 24
percent in 2011 but still high. The agency says that mortality rates are higher
for a pregnant teen than for women aged between 25 and 29, and that the unborn
baby is at an increased risk as well.
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| Jose Da Silva. (Photo: A. McKenzie) |
Many teenage mothers
will face a life of poverty and hardship, especially if they don’t have a means
out, such as continued education or a career. Almeida’s big break came when she
was “discovered” by José Da Silva, the CEO of record company Lusafrica, while
performing in Cape Verde. Da Silva is the former musician who established
Lusafrica in the late 1980s to record Evora - the “barefoot diva” who became an
international star - and he has also boosted the careers of many other African
artists.
He brought Almeida to
Paris to record, insisting that she sing her own songs, he said in an interview.
The album, released in Cape Verde at the end of last year and in Europe this
year, has found immediate success, with listeners apparently able to relate to
the young singer’s experiences. The audience in Paris, consisting mostly of the
ex-pat Cape Verdean community, knew all the words to Lebam Ku Bo and Nta
Konsigui, the first two songs which have received great airplay and been
released on video to many thousands of views.
“Each song has a
message, even when it’s more festive,” Almeida says. “I’m telling girls to be
careful, and also to fight for their own success.”
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| The album cover. |
The album comprises
intricate arrangements as well as the melodies and beats of Santiago, where
batuque, funaná and morna are among the genres. Almeida brings her own
personality to the music, and even the more traditional arrangements sound
fresh and modern, with her stirring voice doing the songs justice.
On stage, her
performance pulses with energy and youthful sassiness. At one point in the Paris
concert, a spectator seemed to issue a challenge about dancing, and Almeida
promptly invited the woman on stage to show what she could do. Tying scarves
around their hips, singer and spectator engaged in an amiable dance-off, more
moving together than trying to outdo the other.
“It’s easy,” Almeida
teased the audience afterwards. “You just do it like this.” Smiling, she shook
her hips to the left and the right, and got everyone laughing.
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| Bassist Nelida Da Cruz. (Photo: Brian Cook / Golden Sky Media) |
Enjoying the ambience,
the five-member band played what sounded like their best, with both the drummer and
percussionist filling the cosy Studio de l’Ermitage in the “hills” of Eastern
Paris, with irresistible rhythms. Virtuoso guitarist Hernani Almeida recreated his
arrangements from the album, while female bassist Nelida Da Cruz - “the only
woman bassist from Cape Verde”, as Almeida introduced her - also had
people swaying.
Asked about the inevitable comparisons with the late Évora,
Almeida said that her music is very different, but she was also quick to pay
homage to Évora.
“Cesaria is a pride
and joy for us, for all of Cape Verde,” she said. “I come from a different
island, with a different culture and different singers, but I recognize her
value and everything she has done for us.”
Another young singer
in the future might one day say the same of Almeida, especially if the latter
is able to build on her current success. - A.M.
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| Fans record Almeida's performance. (Photo: Brian Cook / Golden Sky Media) |
A version of this article
is published by Inter Press Service:
