How do you feel about playing a show in Lisbon again?
It’s always a joy to return to Lisbon. I have a great affection for Portugal and the Portuguese public, who have always welcomed me with so much love since my first shows in Europe. There is an emotional connection, because I feel that there is an identification with this warm energy, with this musicality that comes from Bahia, which has a lot of the Atlantic, a lot of the meeting between Africa, Europe and Brazil. Lisbon is one of those places where this mixture pulses, and that moves me.
What will be the style of the repertoire? A mix of classics and new songs?
Yes, the show brings a little bit of everything that makes up my career. I like to revisit the classics, like “Elegibô”, “Alegria da Cidade”, “Faraó”, “Dandalunda”, because these songs carry very important memories, both mine and the public. But I also bring more recent songs, which speak to my current moment, with new sounds and reflections. I like to present reinterpretations of artists that inspire me, such as Gil, Caetano, João Donato, Os Tincoãs, Roberto Mendes. It is a repertoire that has a strong, danceable, solar feel, but also moments of introspection and ancestry.
You were recently in Porto and it was a great success, what was that moment like?
The show in Porto was beautiful! Casa da Música is a wonderful space, and the energy of the public was something that touched me deeply. I always say that when people go to a show, they are volunteering their time, and that is a very precious thing. So I give back with all I have. It was a beautiful reunion with the Portuguese public, a celebration of Afro-Brazilian music, our culture and the joy of being alive, creating and singing after so many years on the road. I left there with a heart full of gratitude.
You are also a constant presence at Portuguese festivals, such as Músicas do Mundo. How do you see these big festivals, especially those that make this CPLP musical connection?
I see these festivals as fundamental bridges. Music is a universal language, and these encounters between Portuguese-speaking countries strengthen cultural ties that go back centuries. Músicas do Mundo, for example, which I participated in last year, plays a wonderful role in showing the diversity of our sounds and our stories. Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal — all bring expressions that were born from mixture, resistance and creativity. And when we are together in these spaces, we realize that our differences become beauty, and that the Atlantic, which once was pain, is now also a path to reunion.
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Which Portuguese artists do you like most?
I have great admiration for names like Cesária Évora — who, although Cape Verdean, has a very strong connection with Portugal —, Mariza, Sara Tavares, António Zambujo, and also for more contemporary artists who have been experimenting with fusions between traditional and modern. I had the pleasure of recording with Luís Represas on my album Naturally Acoustica very beautiful partnership in music One More Case. And I also admire the talent of the Portuguese violinist and singer Noa, a sensitive and creative artist, who represents very well this new generation of music in Portugal. I really like it when Portuguese music opens up to dialogue with the world, because that’s where it meets Afropop, samba, ijexá, with this energy that transcends borders.
You celebrate decades of your career — which moments do you consider to be the most transformative to date?
Look, it’s been 38 years on the road, and each phase has its importance. Without a doubt, the beginning was transformative — singing A Story of Ifá and seeing this song reach number one on World Music radio in the United States, working with David Byrne, all of this opened a new horizon. Another remarkable moment was when I realized that the term “Brazilian Afropop” was becoming an identity, a flag for valuing our African roots within contemporary music. And now, with experience as a minister, it’s another type of learning — seeing culture from within the State structure and fighting for it to reach every corner of Brazil.
How do you see the role of Axé, Afropop and other African influences in your music today?
These rhythms are the basis of everything. Samba-reggae, ijexá, afropop, axé music — all of these movements carry an ancestral strength, a vibration that speaks about identity, resistance and celebration. Afro-Brazilian music is a living heritage, it is renewed all the time. And I try, within my creation, to maintain this bridge between the ancestral and the contemporary. It’s not just rhythm, it’s spirituality, it’s philosophy, it’s a way of being in the world. When I bring a work to the stage, I am evoking a story that comes from way back, but that still pulses with all its power today.
Today living in Brasília and traveling a lot, how does Bahia, your homeland, continue to influence your art – musical, visual, spiritual?
Bahia is in me all the time. There’s no way not to be. It is the land that made me who I am and this is inseparable from me as a human being. Even living in Brasília and with all the hustle and bustle of public life, I carry this energy, this spirituality that comes from the sea, from energy, from faith and from the joy of living. Bahia taught me to look at the world with poetry and rhythm. And every time I compose or go on stage, it is this Bahia that speaks through me.
To what extent do you think music can be socially transformative, especially in black or peripheral communities?
Music is one of the most powerful tools for transformation. It informs, welcomes, raises awareness and empowers. When a young person from the periphery sees himself represented, when he realizes that his story can become a song, it changes everything. Afro-Brazilian music has always been political — even when we talk about joy, we are talking about resistance. I deeply believe in this power of transformation, because I have experienced it and continue to see it happen in communities, in Afro blocks, in cultural collectives. Art is a form of healing, freedom and citizenship.
What rhythms, fusions or innovations have you experienced recently?
Because of my work as a minister, I haven’t sung much, it’s true, but I always try to stay connected with what’s new in music. I’m always attentive to new music from Bahia and Brazil, this movement by artists like Josyara, Fatel, Luedji Luna, Baiana System.
amanda.lima@dn.pt