Nelson Freitas at L’Olympia !

You were born and grew up in The Netherlands, do you feel Dutch? Or cape Verdean? Or both?

I was born in The Netherlands but people look at me as if I was not from here. I have to deal with the same look in the Cape Verde islands. People know right away I’m not from there. Whether it is in the Cape Verde islands or The Netherlands, I am seen as a stranger; but wherever I am be, I feel at home. I cannot dissociate from either one of them because I was born and I grew up in Netherland, but the Cape Verde islands is a part of my being. This is my roots.

When did you hear the music call?

To tell the truth, it did not happen like that. I remember the exact moment I knew I wanted to do music. I was between work and music; I end up at a point where I had to choose between both. In 2008, before launching my solo album, I decided to start a musical career.
At the beginning it was rough, but I keep on working.

Do you draw your inspiration from other artist? Which one?

Yes, i draw inspiration from artist like Pharrell William. He is a great musician, humble and very smart. He is a really inspirational to me. Another one is Jay-Z, he is a very good business man. He is a talented artist of course, but what I admire most the way he handles business. I also get my inspiration from Kanye West, he is a little bit crazy, but still talented. And of course the great Michael Jackson, he is the main inspirational source to me. Thanks God I’ve been lucky to see him perform that was breath-taking.

Are you a Zouk artist? A CaboLove artist? A Kizomba artist? Or a RnB artist? How do you define your style?

It first started with the Zouk music, then with other people like me; I started to blend Zouk with other music like Hip Hop. This is a process that started in 2004 until 2012, I would say. This new music mix with RnB and Hip Hop has different names such as Ghetto Zouk, CaboZouk, CaboLove and more. Later the word Kizomba appeared, medias jump over that word, but this is what I had been doing the entire time. I always tried to do music that I like, that I feel. I don’t see my music as label. This is not Zouk, with just other music added on top. This is a real fusion of many different musical universes.

You launched your last album, called Four. Why that name?

Four because this is my fourth solo album, because I was born the 4th of April, and we launched it in April (the 4th month). I also received 4 awards at the Cabo Verde Music Award. Let’s say that 4 is like my lucky charm.

One of your hits from the 4th Album, Nha Baby is a featuring with Marya Andrade who also won a Cabo Verde Award for the best collaboration 2017. Who took the lead ?

I was looking for the opportunity to sing with Marya simply because I love her voice. Her voice, you know, it has a distinctive sound. I can immediately recognize her. It’s unique. Then I got in touch with her, and she was open to discussion for this featuring. We saw that our respective universes stand out. We worked a lot on this track. And it worked; she was rewarded at the CVMA. I’m really happy about this featuring.

You were not at the Cabo Verde Music Award, which you won 4 Awards. You were in Angola for a Concert. How was it?

It was really good! I was a little bit sad for not being able to be at the ceremony, all the more since I won prizes. Usually it is set in March, but it was postponed. I really wanted to assist that ceremony, the atmosphere is always great and you can meet a lot of amazing people. My concert being already planned I went in Angola. My performance in Luanda was great. I don’t know how many people were there but the place was crowed. The organization was well done. That moment was excellent. I was happy, I made the most of it and I won awards.

If you had to do a featuring, which artist will you choose?

I think I will go for Cesaria that would have been unbelievable. I would have also loved to do a featuring with Michael Jackson, but unfortunately this is not possible anymore.

 What is the next step?

For now, we keep on with the Beautiful Lie Tour until October, and then I will work onto new music. I am currently producing a young artist, Laise Sanches who was at the Olympia with me.

 

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