Mayra Andrade

“From day one, I wanted my crowd to accept me the way I was. If I did what they asked me, I wouldn't be doing this music. When I was 15 and 16, [older musicians] said 'Look, you have a great voice – just stop messing around and improvising. Just do it properly, the way we do it, the traditional way.' You have the right to try things, and you have to be humble enough to understand that each album is a portrait of a moment. This is all I can give, today. Tomorrow I will have more to give, but it will be different.”

“Cape Verde is like ten small rocks lost in the middle of the ocean. Everything could go wrong here, but my people . . . We made this country out of nothing. I always say our only resource is the human resource. I'm very proud to be part of a nation that is mostly known for its music. In that sense, what I do with my music is very important because it impacts the way people see this country.”

“I remember playing music in my room when I was three years old. When I was four I asked for my guitar. I remember as a child going to the countryside with my family and having all the batucaderas around us, playing batuko and funana. It's part of me. [But] I had my parallel world: I would go and look for CDs and vinyls from Brazilian artists, 'cause I was more attracted to that openness.”