Mayra Andrade (born 13 February 1985) is a
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
an singer who lives and records in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Portugal.
Background
Andrade was born in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, 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 <div class=)
,
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, and Germany.
However, she spent around two months of the year
[ in the Cape Verdean island of ]Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
.Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...
, whom she has cited as a musical influence.
Career
Andrade often performed as a teenager,[ beginning voice lessons in Paris at age 17.][ During this time, she also met the composer Orlando Pantera and began collaborating with him.][ Andrade then began to perform in various Portuguese-speaking regions, including the Cape Verdean cities and ]Praia
Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.[Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...]
.[
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
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
." 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 and songs in Portuguese, Cape Verdean creole, French, and English.[ Portuguese]
Andrade's fifth album, ''Manga'', was released on 8 February 2019.Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
and features a mixture of afrobeats
Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...
, urban music, and traditional Cape Verdean rhythms.
Awards and nominations
At age 16, Andrade won the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie
The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France ...
songwriting contest.Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Preis is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alfred Preis (1911–1993), Austrian architect
* Ellen Preis (Ellen Müller-Preis) (1912–2007), German-born Austrian Olympic champion foil fencer
* Mary Louise Preis (born 1941), ...
(''German Record Critics Award'') for her album '' Navega'' in 2007 and for '' Stória, stória...'' in 2009. She also won the Newcomer award at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music
The BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music was an award given to world music artists between 2002 and 2008, sponsored by BBC Radio 3. The award was thought up by '' fRoots'' magazine's editor Ian Anderson, inspired by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. U ...
2008.[
In 2013, she was nominated in the music category of the 21st ''Femmes en Or'' prize.
In 2014, her album '' Lovely Difficult'' was nominated in France for the Victoires de la Musique Award, in the World Music category.][ (French)]
Discography
Albums
References
External links
*
Official Facebook Page
*
* statistics, tagging and previews at Last.FM
Mayra Andrade Interview at allaboutjazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrade, Mayra
1985 births
Living people
21st-century Cape Verdean women singers
Cape Verdean expatriates in France
Cape Verdean expatriates in Portugal