Cape Verde has long been celebrated for its musical heritage in which its women vocalists have played a pivotal role down the centuries. The archipelago’s unique blend of African, European, and Latin American influences has produced a sound that is at once distinctly local and widely appealing. Cape Verde’s most famous export, Cesária Évora, introduced the world to morna, a melancholic genre that speaks of longing, migration, and resilience. Her impact has been widely chronicled through movies, books and even songs. But, 13 years after Cesária passed away, the music scene in Cape Verde is evolving. While her legacy continues to loom large, a new generation of women vocalists is emerging from the Bare Foot Diva’s shadow, seeking to define their own paths while honoring the traditions of the past.
The 2024 edition of the Atlantic Music Expo (AME), held in Praia, Cape Verde’s capital, was a precious barometer to gauge this evolution. Celebrating a decade of cultural exchange while promoting Cape Verdean music on the global stage, the 2024 edition saw women vocalists taking center stage. These artists are creating a vibrant fusion of styles—combining morna, funaná, and batuque with genres like jazz, hiphop, and Afrobeat. Songlines reporter Daniel Brown looks back at this landmark edition which augurs well for the future of female musicians from the Atlantic archipelago.
“We’re in a small country, but we have big dreams.” Praia-based singer Paulinha Teixeira sits calmly under one of dozens of paintings adorning the exhibition walls at the AME headquarters in Central Praia. This sumptuous colonial building is built around the festival’s courtyard where its showcases and conferences take place. The 39-year-old has weathered a 25-year-career that has left scars, and she doesn’t hide them. A teenage phenomenon, Paulinha openly talks of tribulations that success brought, as she spiraled down into drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and suicide attempts. At present, she considers it a duty to the young generations to share these realities. But she also insists on the salvatory role music continues to play and the enduring strength Cesária Évora gives her. “Cesária opened the door for us, even Madonna knows us thanks to her. Yes, we are a small country with no rain, dez graoes no mar (10 lost grains, ed.) in the Atlantic. We are poor but our heart is big, as is our voice and our culture.”
Paulinha was one of trio of women singers opening the 10th edition of the Atlantic Music Expo at the Auditorio Nacional. They were amongst the half-dozen female vocalists seeking to make new voices resonate with the island’s defiance and “Creolitude”. “We’re just following our dreams,” Paulinho sighs. “I’m asking our youth to live their passion by assuming this Kriol heritage; but to modernize it. Everything starts with a dream and I just wanna dream big.”
This is no small talk from an artist who, like so many Cape Verdeans, took her ambitions to the West and has now returned with the mission of embarking women musicians in a new, original direction. In doing so, she alerts them on the traps her musical career had set for her in the US, the Netherlands and the UK. I met her and almost a dozen women artists in the one-week AME event that remains one of the cultural highlights of the year in the archipelago. Although they have contrasting backgrounds and experiences, these artists share a grit and imagination which shone through in their concerts and interviews. All insisted on the privileged space the AME and follow-up Kriol Jazz Festival afford them.
Diversifying Artistic Expression
This included the artist Fattù Djakité, a Bissau-Guinean who grew up in Cape Verde. Fattù was one of the stars of AME’s previous edition and no wonder: her voice has astonishing range and her onstage presence has been lauded both home and abroad. In 2024, she was back to show her another facet of her talents as an engaged painter. “I’m a multi-artist,” she said, her smile going from ear to ear. “I’m also a mother and a social activist. Last year at AME, my aim was to expose my multiple identity in music, rooted in my two archipelagos, as well as in Africa and Brazil. Our music in Guinea Bissau is still virgin territory, so to speak, no one knows about it and its music and its mix of Fula and Mandinka cultures. So, I’ve married our different heritages with those of Cape Verde’s. Even my songs are a fusion of the two Creole languages.”
For many, Fattù embodies this new wave of female empowerment in Cape Verde, where women are breaking down traditional barriers in the music industry. No longer confined to the role of vocalist, they are becoming instrumentalists, composers, and producers, gaining control over their sound and their careers. “We have so much to say as Cape Verdean women, and now, we’re saying it in ways that are louder and stronger than ever before,” Fattù asserts.
These past years she has accumulated awards for her engagement, both in the music and societal spheres, including being named one of the 100 most influential personalities of the Lusophony world. Her second album, Praia Bissau, articulates the mother-of-one’s drive to bring these islands together: “Guinea Bissau is way behind Cape Verde in exploring its music and preserving our history and heritage, difficult as both were. We need to tell stories about our people. I showcase our culture, our black women, our Kriol mix. When I was on stage at last year’s AME, I felt like I’m the queen, this is my time to shine.”
Veiga and Da Silva Open Up Fresh Spaces
Two figures who have been instrumental in nurturing this new Lusophone African wave of talent are José da Silva and Augusto Veiga. José is the founder of the Lusafrica and Harmonia record labels and one of the driving forces behind AME. He was also the former manager of Cesária Évora. More from him later. Augusto Veiga, meanwhile, has just been promoted from AME general director to the country’s Minister of Culture and Creative Industries. Since he took over in 2019, Veiga, has made it his mission to ensure that Cape Verdean women artists have access to the international exposure they need to succeed. “The women of Cape Verde have always been essential to our musical heritage,” Veiga explained. “But for many years, they lacked the platforms and resources to advance their careers internationally. AME is changing that.”
The festival provides opportunities for women to not only perform but also to network with international music professionals, from agents and managers to journalists and festival curators. “AME is about more than just performing,” Veiga insisted. “It’s about connecting with the people who can help take your career to the next level.” One such person is Paul Duhaney. The artistic director of Africa Oye returned to the festival for the first time in five years to gauge the new generation of musicians and their arrival on the Praia scene. Africa Oye, one of the UK’s most colorful festivals, is devoted to the Mother Continent.
Paul underlined a certain anomaly in the gender balance in Europe’s festivals which leaves him puzzled: “I think Cape Verde has always been strong with female artists, you know, Cesária, Sara Tavares, now Mayra Andrade and Elida Almeida. There are all these amazing artists I’ve seen develop over the years. So that legacy is sort of entrenched in Cape Verdean culture. But what’s quite bizarre is when you go to festivals around the world in Europe, that’s simply not reflected. The festival line ups don’t translate this wealth, not only from Cape Verde but from all of Africa. And I’m asking, like, ‘Why is this? Is this a conscious thing or is it subconscious?’ And so, at Africa Oye, we’ve been making a conscious effort for around five years to make sure that we are addressing this imbalance, aiming for a 50-50 ratio. For me that doesn’t seem strange. It just seems normal and we shouldn’t be talking about it. But we have to because it still isn’t being addressed the way it should be.”
From Liverpool to the Seychelles
Duhaney insisted that the potential for Cape Verdean female vocalists has always been there: “Just look at the opening ceremony at the AME that we enjoyed. A number of young performances performers between the ages of 17 and 21 blowing us away. I look at their peers in the UK and it seems there’s so much more to develop at home. And I’m convinced that this is all because of the culture around singing and carrying on the legacy. I think that we will get a generational talent coming at some point. I just couldn’t tell you when it’s going to arrive.”
For David Andre, secretary general of the Seychelles’ newly formed National Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts, Cape Verde’s engagement in its own unique music culture should inspire small nations like his own, the 115-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Andre’s government has given his institute the fourth biggest public budget to encourage its population, particularly its youth, to value its legacy and culture. “Cape Verde has shown us how to be proud of what you have, to find your own style,” Andre explained after his morning conference at the AME. “And its women singers are spearheading this effort. Instead of copying what we see coming from the US or Europe, they educate and sensitize their youth, persuade them that being faithful to one’s own identity is the surest path to getting recognized. They have to be themselves, they can’t be Beyoncé, there’s only one Beyoncé.”
The Rise of Female Instrumentalists
One artist paving her own path both in the US and now in Cape Verde is Maura Delgado. She has benefited from AME support and is seen as a rising star, performing at the festival for the first time in 2024. “I was at a crossroads, questioning whether I should continue with music,” Maura shares with me after an impassioned set on the Palacio da Cultura Ildo Lobo stage. “But being part of AME gave me the confidence to keep going. Seeing so many strong women on stage, and feeling the energy of the audience, made me realize that I have a place in this industry.”
While women have long been the leading vocalists in Cape Verdean music, they have traditionally been absent from the instrumental side of the industry. For years, men dominated the roles of musicians and bandleaders, while women could only hope to come to the fore through their singing. But, for José da Silva, this is beginning to change as more women take up instruments and assert themselves as complete musicians.
“There’s been a delay in women playing instruments,” he notes. “But that’s starting to move at an increasing pace. We’re seeing more women learning the guitar, piano, and percussion, asserting themselves in bands, and it’s transforming the way Cape Verdean music is made.”
One of the standout performances at AME this year underlined José’s point. It came from Zubikilla Spencer, a multi-instrumentalist who played both guitar and drums during her set. Her performance was a testament to the growing presence of female instrumentalists in Cape Verdean music. “I knew that if I wanted to control my own sound, I had to learn to play the instruments myself,” explained Zubikilla, her long white dreadlocks lashing her face. “It was important for me to be able to create my music from start to finish.” The artist could also draw on a rich heritage: her father, Nhelas Spencer is one of the country’s most renowned composers and handed down a rich tradition of tabanka, batuku and koladero rhythms to mix with her soul, R&B and jazz.
Fusions at a Multiple Level
This artistic shift is also evident in Cape Verde’s music schools, where more and more girls are enrolling to learn instruments. “We’re seeing a new generation of girls who want to do more than just sing,” Augustinho Veiga told me. “They want to be in control of their own music. They’re learning to play guitar, piano, and percussion, and it’s exciting to see.”
For AME’s former director, the success of his festival lies in its ability to foster creativity and innovation while remaining deeply connected to Cape Verde’s musical roots. “We want to show that Cape Verdean music is alive, it’s evolving, and it’s growing,” insisted Veiga. Now that he has been nominated the country’s Minister of Culture, he hopes to amplify the gathering’s impact by growing its financial budget, which has been stagnating at €150,000 a year. “Our artists are blending traditional styles like morna and funaná with modern genres like jazz, R&B, and Afrobeat, creating something that’s uniquely Cape Verdean but also global.”
While the Atlantic Music Expo has provided a platform for new women vocalists to showcase their talents, much of the foundation for Cape Verde’s global musical presence was laid by José da Silva, the LusAfrica label he created in 1988, and his management of Cesária Évora’s international career. José’s deep understanding of the country’s Creole identity has been central to his work. “Cape Verdean music is a fusion of many influences,” he explained to me as the festival was winding down. “That’s what makes it so powerful. It’s simultaneously local and global. When you hear a Cape Verdean song, whether you’re in Brazil, Japan, or France, there’s something familiar in the music. It connects with people on a deep, emotional level.”
This cultural fusion, José believes, is what gives Cape Verdean music its universal appeal. It’s also what has allowed women vocalists to carve out their own space in the industry. “Before Cesária Évora’s success, it was difficult for women to make a living from music,” da Silva admited. “Families often discouraged their daughters from pursuing careers in the arts, especially if it involved singing in bars or performing in public. But Cesária changed that. She showed that a Cape Verdean woman could build an international career and support her family.”
New Challenges in Cesária’s Shadow
However, while Évora’s success opened doors, it also set a high bar that many younger women vocalists feel they must live up to. “Cesária’s legacy is both a blessing and a challenge,” insisted Gabriela Mendes, a well-traveled singer whose graceful concert at the Luis Camoes Square was another highlight of the edition. “We all look up to her, but at the same time, we want to create our own paths. We want to honor her, but we also need to move forward and make music that reflects who we are today.”
Nancy Vieira is one of the country’s best-loved singers. Whilst based in Portugal, she exemplifies this duality. Her music is a blend of morna, jazz, fado, and Afrobeat, and she has spent much of her career collaborating with artists from Brazil, Spain, and Peru. “Music doesn’t stop at borders,” Vieira tells me in one of Praia’s best music restaurants, Quintal da Musica, or simply 5tal. “I sing in Creole, but my music is international. It’s a reflection of who I am – a Cape Verdean with global influences.”
The walls of 5tal host hundreds of black-and-white photographs of Cape Verdean music legends, including a youthful Nancy Vieira, smiling down from above us. “I dream of coming back to Cape Verde one day,” she said, gesturing toward the photo. “I want to reconnect with my roots, to bring everything I’ve learned abroad back to the islands. We may sing in a Creole that only our people understand, but our music transcends language. Music is what unites us, no matter where we are.”
Such spiritual food is complemented at the 5tal by the culinary delicacies served up by its owner and chef, Alia Santos. A former civil servant in the Ministry of Culture, Alia concocts delicious traditional Cape Verdean cuisine for regulars and tourists alike. This proud self-starter has been quite the catalyst for the country’s music since she decided back in 1995 to drop her job and marry gastronomy with sound. “I’ve been lucky enough to host some of the country’s greatest artists,” she told me whilst serving up a generous portion of peixe seco à moda de Santiago.
In the background, one of the restaurant’s veterans, Nataniel Simas, belted out “Nha Vida Di Novo” (to be found on his February release of the same name). The restaurant is packed full of a seamless mix of locals and wizened tourists. Before I leave, Alia slipped me her self-published book Temperos Da Chef, 224 pages of Cape Verdean recipes and anecdotes that do honor to this unique restaurant mixing our taste buds with our love for the island’s traditional music.
Music as a Tool of Self-expression
Women have always played a central role in Cape Verdean society, especially in the context of migration. As men traveled abroad in search of work, women were often left behind to care for their families and preserve the country’s cultural traditions. In this context, music became a way for women to express their experiences, to tell stories of love, migration and loss. Genres like morna and batuque became spaces where women could voice their struggles, celebrate their joys, and assert their independence.
“Cape Verdean women have always been the cultural keepers of our country,” writes historian Laura Borges, who has published extensively on Cape Verdean gender dynamics. “They’ve held families together during times of migration, they’ve preserved our traditions, and they’ve used music to tell their stories. But now, they’re also becoming innovators, pushing the boundaries of what Cape Verdean music can be.”
For Cape Verdean artist Rita Eversta Lopes de Moura Fernandes, these themes of resistance and empowerment are central to her work. The 74-year-old painter stood calmly in her small house on Rua de Banana in the historic town of Cidade Velha (a 15-minute drive from Praia). She was surrounded by hundreds of her paintings, some nailed to the wall, many heaped up in chaotic piles. Rita’s paintings are illuminated by these themes of strength and emancipation, but they also explore history and migration, providing a broader cultural perspective on the struggles and triumphs of Cape Verdean women – both in music and in society.
“Women in Cape Verde have always worked hard,” Fernandes explained in a long interview. “They’ve raised children, kept families together, and faced the pain of migration. My work is about showing their resilience. They are the backbone of our society.”
For decades Rita has been exploring the struggles and triumphs of Cape Verdean women in her art. Her paintings often depict the hardships faced by women, from the violence of colonization to the legacy of migration. Her work also touches on the lingering impact of the Portuguese long presence on the islands, particularly the ways in which it has shaped Cape Verde’s cultural identity. “The legacy of colonization is something we still live with today,” she said pointedly. “But my work is also about imagining a future where Cape Verdean women are unshackled from the humiliations they felt for so long, empowered, where they have the freedom to express themselves fully.”
Creolization: The Foundation of Cape Verdean Identity
Cape Verde’s unique cultural identity is deeply rooted in this history of creolization, the tumultuous blending of African, European, and Latin American influences. This cultural fusion has been central to the development of Cape Verdean music, which draws on a wide range of genres, from African rhythms to Portuguese fado and Brazilian samba.
For José da Silva, this cultural hybridity is Cape Verde’s greatest strength. “Creolization is at the heart of who we are as Cape Verdeans,” he said. “It allows us to be comfortable wherever we go, whether it’s in Africa, Europe, or the Americas. Our music reflects that – it’s a blend of different influences, and that’s what makes it so powerful.”
The Role of the Cape Verdean Diaspora in Shaping Music
Cape Verde’s diaspora, which is larger than the population of the islands themselves, has played a critical role in shaping the nation’s music. For centuries, Cape Verdeans have emigrated to Europe, the Americas, and Africa, creating a transnational community that continues to influence the cultural and musical life of the islands.
This connection to the diaspora is particularly strong among women, many of whom have used their music to maintain a link to their homeland while also exploring new possibilities abroad. “The diaspora is our greatest resource,” José da Silva said. “It keeps us connected to the world, and it allows us to bring new influences back to Cape Verde.”
For Rita, this connection to the diaspora is not just about cultural exchange – it’s also about empowerment. Some of her large tableaux depict the historical struggles and defiance of a population which has known famine and extreme poverty down the centuries. “Women have had to be tough. Whether they’re living in Cape Verde or abroad, they find ways to survive, to thrive, and to express themselves.”
This endurance has a long track record, as Cape Verdean singer Candida Rose told reporter Jack Spillane when describing the quintessential art of batuko singing: “Women are the ones in the community who kind of keep the community together. And this particular way they do it is through music,” she said from her US exile. It’s from there that she contributed to the 2021 collective work Cabo Verdean Women Writing. “(This tradition) goes back,” she noted. “It’s very ancient. And it was kept alive by the women in the inner islands of Santiago,”
Rose insists on the link between musicians like Nacia Gomi and her batuko and the revolutionary movements that swept the region in the Seventies. “The revolutionary leader Amilcar Cabral called upon Nacia to help to bring it forward amongst the populations of Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau. She did a whole lot to strengthen (Cape) Verdean culture through music.”
Finding New Horizons
Half a century later, and it’s another female vocalist who is strengthening this identity through her forages both into new genres and old morna classics. Mayra Andrade, has just released a delicious live album, ReEncanto, to add to the five she’s brought out since 2006. In an interview in the early 2000s, I remember Cesária Évora telling me that the Paris-based singer was the likeliest to take over her mantle. But Mayra has done much more than that, bringing in Afrobeat, reggae, bossa nova and electronic influences into her morna interpretations.
For Azores filmmaker and artistic director Filipe Tavares, she was a natural choice to headline the 10th anniversary of his 2024 Azores Burning Summer festival. Filipe was one of a half-dozen festival pioneers invited to the 2024 AME to share his event’s approach and philosophy. “Mayra has a compelling stage presence,” he told me a month after the August 2024 edition of Burning Summer. He laughed laughed in a telephone exchange from the Azores: “At this year’s festival, she captivated a record audience and even had us singing in a Kriol we only ‘understood’ phonetically. But we were helped by our Cape Verdean diaspora which populates many of the Azores islands.”
Filipe and his team are hard at work preparing the 2025 edition which promises to be a heightened example of mixing music with their commitment to the environment and social issues. “Being at AME was a strong signal of the complicity we are building across the Atlantic. We’re learning from each other and inspiring our colleagues on the musical, societal and cultural levels.”
Looking Forward: The Future of Cape Verdean Women in Music
As Cape Verde’s music scene continues to evolve, women will remain at the forefront, leading the charge toward innovation and transformation. “Cape Verdean music is in good hands,” insisted Augusto Veiga. “These women artists are strong, talented, and determined to succeed. They’re creating something new, something that reflects who they are and where they come from. And the world is taking notice.”
José da Silva agreed, noting that the future of Cape Verdean music will be shaped by the next generation of women vocalists. “These women are incredibly innovative,” he said. “They respect the traditions that came before them, but they’re not afraid to experiment, to push boundaries. They’re the future of Cape Verdean music.”
And for Paulinha Teixeira, the journey towards renewal is a deeply cathartic one. “I don’t have a manager. I don’t have a producer. I don’t have anything,” she said. Then, a smile creept across her face. “But now I’m connected again with my supporters, and my career is coming back. My life is coming back. And I know I have a lot to give. As Madonna once sung, don’t cry for me Argentina. Yeah, that’s me.”
With Cape Verdean women continuing to break barriers and forge new paths in music, voices like Paulinha’s should ensure that Cape Verde’s musical heritage remains vibrant, relevant, and ever evolving for generations to come.
This article was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Atlantic Music Expo and the impeccable support of its press coordinator Fred Miguel (who was rewarded with a trophy for her years of service at the help of AME).
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Author: Daniel Brown
Ever since his first interview of Burning Spear/Winston Rodney in 1991, Daniel Brown has been covering music for major media outlets, notably Radio France International, Songlines and the BBC. Based in Paris, Daniel produced the award-winning World Tracks feature on RFI for 15 years. His articles have accompanied Songlines Magazine since its inception in 1999, the latest featuring the homage by Ibrahim Maalouf to his father and his quarter-tone trumpet.