Awarded the RFI Découvertes prize in 2015, the young girl, who was born on the island of Santiago, worked on her vocal technique in the simplicity of church hymns. She honed her musical culture by offering a program on the local radio station in Maio, where she grew up after the death of her father, supporting her mother, a street vendor. A tenacious advocate of the right to education, Elida left the rural world to compose songs of love and concern. Her fresh, warm voice immediately appealed – one of her earliest works (Nta Konsigui) was featured in the credits of the famous Portuguese TV soap opera A Unica Mulher. If there’s such a thing as a “golden cradle”, it wasn’t given to her at birth: Elida Almeida weaves it with graceful obstinacy.
Elida’s first album, Nta Konsigui (2.7 million views on YouTube), seduced fans with her warm, suave voice, capable of exulting with power. She has made a name for herself on the world music stages of Europe, Africa and North America.
On her second album, Kebrada, named after the village where she spent her childhood, she asserts her African identity, seasoning Cape Verdean rhythms such as batuque, funaná, coladera and tabanka with Latin energy. After establishing herself as the muse of a new generation with her previous album (Gerasonobu) two years ago, the spirited, silky Elida Almeida, with her deliciously suave
compositions, dreams, modestly, of being the loudspeaker and spokesperson for her “little country”: Cape Verde.
Eight years after her debut in 2014, Elida Almeida measures how far she’s come. So she calls her 5th Di Lonji album, “ From afar ”. I come from very far away,” she confirms. From a country that, just a few decades ago, wasn’t even on the world map… Above all, I come
from the interior of the island of Santiago, from a countryside so deep, so remote, that most of its inhabitants never leave it. As for me, I’ve visited 50 countries, won numerous awards and had my creations distributed on four continents…”. An extraordinary destiny, thanks to her talent and tenacity. Elida is convinced that she owes her exceptional career to her solid roots, to her tutelary figures, whom she honors with infinite tenderness on this album, a necklace of finely crafted, intimate pearls.
In the year she celebrated 10 years of career, Elida Almeida released her first vinyl album. A unique decade, a deluxe vinyl. The Cape Verdean singer is marking this special moment with an exclusive, limited edition of “Di Lonji”. This edition of 500 copies only, contains a surprising new track: “Estanhadinha” by Franck Cavaquim, released in 1991 on Cesária Évora’s legendary album “Mar Azul”, in the version and with the voice of Elida Almeida.