Titica is an
Angolan kuduro musician and dancer. She was named "the new face" of kuduro by the
BBC.
Career
Titica was born in
Luanda. 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.
Titica began her career as a
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
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
." She discussed how her music combines kuduro with the Congolese genres of kallé and
n’dombolo and specifically cited
Pépé Kallé and
Koffi Olomide 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.
Through this role and her international popularity, Titica has increased awareness of
HIV risks and treatment, sexual health, and issues affecting the international
LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a 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
Titicaon
Spotify
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Titicaon
Genius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titica
21st-century Angolan women singers
1987 births
Living people
People from Luanda
Angolan LGBT people
Transgender singers
Transgender women musicians
Kizomba singers
Semba singers