Singer
Mayra Andrade > W

Mayra Andrade (born 1985) is a Cape Verdean singer who lives and records in Paris, France. Andrade is Cape Verdean and was born to a Cape Verdean mother and Cape Verdean father. In an interview with Melchior Huurdeman for VPRO Vrije Geluiden in Bimhuis Amsterdam, she confirms that she was simply born in Cuba, but that her mother returned to Cape Verde a few days after her birth. She and her family did not reside in Cuba. She spent the first year ... s of her life in her and her family's native Cape Verde. She and her family traveled extensively and lived in many countries during her childhood, because her father was a diplomat to Cape Verde's government. Hence, during her childhood, she lived in Senegal, Angola, and Germany. However, she spent around two months of the year in the Cape Verdean island of Santiago. She is multilingual, but most of the lyrics of the songs on her albums are in her native Cape Verdean Crioulo language. The first song she remembers singing is "O Leãozinho" by the Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, whom she has cited as a musical influence. Andrade often performed as a teenager, beginning voice lessons in Paris at 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 Mindelo and Praia as well as Lisbon. 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 is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. See more [+]