Cabo Verdean
Lisbon, Portugal
Photo courtesy of Alex Tome
Cabo Verde is a tiny island archipelago off the coast of West Africa that has emerged as a musical powerhouse in the decades since it gained independence from Portugal. In an era where global pop music has long gone digital, Cabo Verde’s music remains proudly analog—an unexpectedly luxurious musical throwback with complex arrangements, stellar musicianship, and heart-wrenching vocal performances. One of the finest musicians carrying the torch of Cabo Verdean music today is singer Lucibela. With soulful vocals full of emotion and a talented band of musicians joining her on stage, Lucibela has been delighting audiences across the globe with the mesmerizing sounds of her home.
The islands of Cabo Verde were uninhabited until the mid-15th century, when the Portuguese created a colony there, establishing a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved Africans soon became a major segment of the population, and the mix of Portuguese and African cultures led to the development of a unique language, Crioulo, and several beautiful musical styles. Cabo Verde’s primary musical export is morna, made famous internationally by legendary diva Cesária Évora in the 1990s and designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2019. Morna has its roots in Cabo Verde’s history that enabled a potent cocktail of African and Latin rhythms, European instruments, and creole vocals. The sound is lush and languid, with a heavy emphasis on strings (mainly guitar, cavaquinho, and violin), clarinet, accordion, and piano, underpinned by subtly percolating percussion. The lyrics are full of aching melancholy and poetry, usually focusing on love, loss, migration, and sodade—the feeling of nostalgia and yearning for home that’s central to a nation that’s exported generations of migrants. Other popular styles include coladeiras—a musical and dance form that is variable and often satirical—and batuque, originally a women’s singing genre with a satirical bent.
Lucibela has never been afraid to lean into the nostalgia, and her faithfulness to the old ways has made her a beloved figure in Cabo Verdean music. Born on the island of São Nicolau in 1986, Lucibela got her start in Cabo Verde’s cultural capital, Mindelo, where she honed her singing in local bands while still in high school. Before long, she was singing in hotels on the island of Boa Vista, the birthplace of morna. Her repertoire expanded to include some of Cabo Verde’s most beloved songs and signature styles, including coladeiras. By 2012 she had relocated to Praia, the capital, and became an instant sensation, poised to follow in the footsteps of Cesária Évora.
Lucibela made her international debut in Lisbon in 2016, and recorded her debut album, Laço Umbilical (Umbilical Cord), there soon after. Recorded in collaboration with guitarist and arranger Toy Vieira, the album revealed a confident young artist with a sophisticated sensibility beyond her years. NPR Music praised the album’s “alluring alchemy of joy and wistfulness.” Laço Umbilical proved so popular internationally that it was re-released in 2019 with additional material. She followed it up with 2022’s Amdjer (Woman), a tribute to Cabo Verde’s women that celebrated the strength, joy, and determination to overcome hardships and sorrows that animate so many of Cabo Verde’s classic songs. In 2024, she released Moda Antiga (In the Old Way), her deepest dive yet into preserving her homeland’s music, carrying forward classic mornas and coladeiras for a new generation.
This engagement of Lucibela is made possible in part through the Performing Arts Global Exchange program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.