Titica is an Angolan

kuduro Kuduro (or kuduru) is a type of music and dance from Angola. It is characterized as uptempo, energetic, and danceable. Kuduro was developed in Luanda, Angola, in the late 1980s. Producers sampled traditional carnival music like soca and zouk b� ...

musician and dancer. She was named "the new face" of kuduro by the

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Career

Titica was born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

. Her stage name is Portuguese for "worthless" or "useless"; she chose the name to reclaim the hateful words that have been directed at her as a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. Despite her training in ballet, Titica found fame through the loose and wild display of her sexual prowess in dance. Flaunting her breasts and hips as she dances, many consider Titica’s embrace of femininity and bass culture as an act of resistance toward Angola’s restrictive legislation against homosexuality and queernes

Titica began her career as a Backup dancer, back-up dancer with acts such as Noite & Dia, Propria Lixa, and Puto Portugues. Her first recording of a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was unplanned. While helping Noite & Dia develop a chorus for a track, Titica's voice was recorded for the track, beginning her music-recording career. In October 2011, Titica released her first album, ''Chão...'', launching her to international success. The album's single "Olha o Boneco," featuring the African-Portuguese singer Ary, charted at number one for 3 weeks on the Portuguese music program ''TOP +'' and for 7 weeks on the Brazilian show ''Rolando Música''.

Influences

Titica is very public about her Congolese background and the influence that this has on her music. In her 2018

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

lecture, she explained that she listens to "lots of music from Congo." She discussed how her music combines kuduro with the Congolese genres of kallé and n’dombolo and specifically cited

Pépé Kallé Pépé Kallé, sometimes written as Pepe Kalle (November 30, 1951 – November 29, 1998) was a Congolese soukous singer, musician and bandleader. Biography Pépé Kallé was born Kabasele Yampanya in Kinshasa (then Léopoldville) in the Belgia ...

and

Koffi Olomide Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (born 13 July 1956), known professionally as Koffi Olomidé, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, dancer, producer, and founder of Quartier Latin International. Often referred to as the "King of Ndombolo", he is not ...

as inspirations. She also named the kuduro artist Fofandó as "one of the most important female artists in the kuduro scene" and stated that "kuduro has a queen who inspired us and I looked up to."

Activism and Advocacy

In 2013, Titica was named a goodwill ambassador for

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS; , ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ex ...

. Through this role and her international popularity, Titica has increased awareness of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

risks and treatment, sexual health, and issues affecting the international

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

. In a statement released during her time at UNAIDS, Titica stated: "I have been beaten and stoned for who I am. I have suffered so much humiliation, but I am ready to lead by example and help overcome stigma and discrimination in my country and beyond."

Discography

* ''Chão...'' (2011) * ''De Última à Primeira'' (2014) * ''Pra Quê Julgar?'' (2018)

References

External links

Titica
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

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Titica
on

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Titica 21st-century Angolan women singers 1987 births Living people Musicians from Luanda Angolan LGBTQ people Transgender women musicians Kizomba singers Semba singers Angolan LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ women singers Transgender women singers