Gerard "Boy" Mendes (born 1952) is a

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 ...

ese musician of

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 descent. He was born in

Dakar, Senegal Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 million in 2023. Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the w ...

and was raised in the city's Cape Verdean

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

community. As a child, he grew up in a household filled with the sounds of the native '' morna'' and ''

coladeira The ''coladeira'' ( ; , ) is a music genre from Cape Verde. It is characterized by a variable tempo, a 2-beat bar, and (in its most traditional form) a harmonic structure based in a cycle of fifths. The lyrics structure is organized in strophes ...

''. But he was also exposed to the music of his adopted land and to the music of

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

and other west African countries. His early music career even included singing rock,

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

, and Cuban music, which were all popular genres in Senegal at the time. Mendes eventually settled in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he teamed up with his brother Jean-Claude, Manú Lima, and Luís Silva to form Cabo Verde Show, one of the most popular Cape Verdean bands of all time, he made several albums including ''Di oro'' in 1995 and ''Noite de morabeza'' (''Morabeza Night'') in 1999, some of them were released by Lusafrica recording company. Mendes was later married and had several children including

Mika Mendes Mickael (Mika) Mendes (born 2 July 1982) is a Cape Verdean-French cola-zouk, Ghetto-Zouk singer. He was born in Nice, France. His father is Boy Gê Mendes former lead singer of the famous Capeverdean group Cabo Verde Show and later part of the ...

, a zouk singer. Mendes has travelled widely, which is reflected in his musical output. His influences derive from the popular music of the United States,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. His 1998 album ''Lagoa'' (''Lagoon'') is considered one of his best.

Discography

*''Gritu di bo fidje,'' 1982 *''Riqueza e valor,'' 1983 *''Donna Kinjela,'' 1987 *''Sururu,'' 1995 *''Di oro'', 1996 *''Lagoa'' (''Lagoon''), 1997 *''Noite de morabeza'' (''Morabeza Night''), 1999

Notes

External links

Profile on Lusafrica Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Boy Ge 20th-century Cape Verdean male singers Senegalese expatriates in France Living people 1952 births Musicians from Dakar Senegalese people of Cape Verdean descent 20th-century Senegalese male singers