Lucibela Freitas Dos Santos, better known as Lucibela, was born in Tarrafal on the island of São Nicolau, one of the Barlavento islands, in Cabo Verde.

The islands of the Cape Verde are notoriously barren, yet they’ve produced some of West Africa’s most enchanting singers. Ever since the death of diva Cesária Évora in 2011, fans have been waiting for another Cape Verdean singer with sublime poise and emotional power. We may have found her in Lucibela, a 32-year-old singer with a truly magnificent voice, liquid and effortless across a wide vocal range.

In 2016, Lucibela made her debut in Lisbon. Some journalists compared her to Cesaria Evora. “Cesaria is unique and there’ll never be another Cesaria,” humbly asserted the young singer. “My aim is to carry on the work Cesaria began. I want to sing Cabo Verdean musical genres – such as morna and coladera – pretty much anywhere in the world, and I want to succeed because of my own talent.”

For all the separation and hardship they’ve endured, Cape Verdeans are ardent dancers and celebrators, evidenced in coladera, the other bright, buoyant local music showcased on Lucibela’s albums.
The charm of Cape Verdean music is this alluring alchemy of joy and wistfulness. Lucibela knows this all too well. When she was just out of high school, Lucibela’s widowed mother died and she made her living singing in tourist hotels. Before she turned to mornas and coladeras, Lucibela sang jazz, rock and Brazilian bossa nova.

“The world has been waiting for another Cape Verdean singer with [Cesaria Évoria]’s sublime poise and emotional power. We may have just found her in Lucibela” (Banning Eyre, NPR).