Elida Almeida (born 1993) is a

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

an singer.

Biography

Elida Sofia Cabral Almeida was born in

Pedra Badejo Pedra Badejo is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 201 ...

in the east of Santiago Island. She spent her childhood years with some difficulty, in the mountains of Santiago. At 17, she sang at church, she listened to the radio, she said on that she grew up on a place without electricity or necessities. She worked on radio commentaries, especially with DJs and presenters. She started writing her album ''Nta Konsiqui''Adrien Barbier, ''Elida Almeida, nouvelle pépite du Cap Vert '', Le Monde, 24 December 2015 She later presented at local concerts and sang at bars in Cape Verde where she started her career. The producer José da Silva, a resident of France with Cape Verdean origins, who had previously worked with

Cesária Évora Cesária Évora GCIH (; 27 August 194117 December 2011), more commonly known as Cize, was a Cape Verdean singer-songwriter. She received a Grammy Award in 2004 for her album '' Voz d'Amor''. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing withou ...

, was interested in her career. Almeida’s style is different from most famous Cape Verdean morna-

coladeira The ''coladeira'' (; Cape Verdean Creole: ''koladera,'' ) is a music genre from the Cape Verde islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by a variable tempo, a 2-beat bar, and (in its most traditional form) a harmonic structu ...

singers. She is more influenced by

funaná The ''funaná'' is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde. ''Funaná'' is an accordion-based music. The rhythm is usually provided by the '' ferrinho'' much like the use of washboards in zydeco, the saw in Caribbean ripsaw music, the scrape ...

, batuque, rhythms created by deserted slaves decades ago, but has a different similarity for the expression. Two years later, she made her first album ''Ora doci, Ora margos.'' In December 2014 she performed in Portugal and France; officially debuting later during 2015 in France at Festival Musiques Métisses in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

. She then went on to take the stage in Paris and the United States in the same month. In November 2015, she was designated a laureate at the RFi awards, made by a jury chaired by the Malian singer

Oumou Sangaré Oumou Sangaré ( bm, Umu Sangare; born 25 February 1968 in Bamako) is a Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician, sometimes referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou". Wassoulou is a historical region south of the Niger River, where the mu ...

. She produced mainly on the African continent even at the start of the Festival des musiques urbaines d'Anoumabo (FEMUA - Anoumabo Urban Music Festival) in Abidjan. Elida Almeida was present at the 2016

Cabo Verde Music Awards The Cabo Verde Music Awards (abbreviation: CVMA) is an annual music award ceremony that takes place every year. The award ceremony takes place in the capital city of Praia, Cape Verde. It is also broadcast on TCV. History The origins of the cr ...

(CVMA) together with Hélio Batalha. A month later, she went to the 10th edition of JazzKif, the

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Jazz Festival.

Discography

Albums

* ''Ora doci, Ora Margos'' (December 2014 - released by Harmonia in Cabo-Verde) * ''Ora doci, Ora Margos'' (May 2015 - released by

Lusafrica Lusafrica, full name: Productions Lusafrica (French for ''Lusafrica Productions'') is a multinational independent record label company based in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1988 by José da Silva (born in 1959 in Praia, Cape Verde), ...

in the rest of the world) * ''Kebrada'' (October 2017 - released by

)

Singles

* "Txika" (July 2016 - Lusafrica) * "Di Mi Ku Di Bo" (January 2017 - Lusafrica) * "É Zonban" feat. Djodje (July 2017 - Lusafrica)

Duets

* "Nhu Santiagu" with Lura in her album ''Herança'' (2015)

Collaborations with other artists

She collaborates with Nelly Cruz, a bass guitarist, Diego Gomes with keys, Magik Santiago with the drums and Hernani Almeida, a guitarist. They produced her first album ''Ora doci, ora morgas''Rosny Ladouceur, ''Les complices d’Elida Almeida'' (''Compilations by Elida Almeida''), Le National, 21 June 2016