Biography

Suzanna Lubrano: the voice that conquered Portuguese Africa

Born in 1975 on the island of Santa Catarina, at the heart of Cape Verde, Suzanna Lubrano grew up between two worlds. At four years old, her family left the island for Rotterdam, in Holland, where she discovered music very early on — first as a child, then professionally from the age of eighteen. Twenty-five years later, she is one of the most recognized Cape Verdean singers of her generation after Cesária Évora, and her music is heard from Portugal to Angola, from Holland to Brazil. Her name: Suzanna Lubrano. Her genre: zouk, this Afro-Creole music current born in the 1980s on the island of Guadeloupe, which fuses Antillean, soul and Caribbean rhythms.

In brief


Full name	Suzanna Lubrano
Birth	November 10, 1975, Santa Catarina, Cape Verde
Nationality	Dutch
Origin	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Field	Singer — zouk, kizomba, coladeira, R&B
Signature works	Sem Bó Nes Mund, Fofó, Tudo Pa Bo
Awards	Kora All African Music Award 2003, CVMA 2011

Key dates

Year	Event
1975	Birth in Santa Catarina, Cape Verde
1996	Debut with Rabelados and first solo album Sem Bó Nes Mund
1999	Fofó and the hit “Ohi Li Oh La”
2003	Kora Awards: best female artist from Africa
2008	Saida, R&B turning point with Marcus « DL » Siskind
2010	Live at Off-Corso (DVD); Museke Online Award
2015	Vitoria in duo with Machel Montano, Iyanya, Vinicius D’black

Career: from Santa Catarina to Rotterdam

Born in 1975 in Santa Catarina, in the Cape Verde archipelago, Suzanna Lubrano grew up in Rotterdam from the age of four, within a well-established Cape Verdean community. From her earliest childhood, she sang — at church, in family gatherings, on the street. At eighteen, she turned professional with Rabelados, a popular Cape Verdean group, and recorded the album Sukuro (1996). The same year, she launched her solo career with Sem Bó Nes Mund (Kings Records), then Fofó (1999) with the hit “Ohi Li Oh La”, an anthem to zouk that crossed borders. Her musicality was forged between Cape Verdean heritage and European influences: Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Aaliyah. She blends kriolu (Cape Verdean Creole) with R&B and pop sounds.

The turning point Tudo Pa Bo (2002, “Everything for You”) confirmed and expanded her audience through collaboration with Ronald Rubinel, nicknamed “the master of zouk”, Beto Dias and Jorge do Rosario. The album achieved a gold record in Lusophone Africa. December 2003 marked a historic moment: at the Kora All African Music Awards in Johannesburg, viewed by 600 million television viewers, Suzanna won two trophies — best female artist from West Africa and Africa. The first Cape Verdean and Dutch artist to receive this award. The President and Prime Minister of Cape Verde congratulated her; she received a diplomatic passport from Cape Verde and became godmother to a TACV Boeing aircraft.

Silêncio (2004) pays tribute to a Cape Verdean adolescent assassinated in Rotterdam, Saida (2008) marks an R&B turning point recorded at Blue Jay Studio in Los Angeles with Marcus « DL » Siskind, and Festa Mascarado (2009) includes an unreleased rap from the Lisa « Left Eye » Lopes family (TLC). Vitoria (2015) pushes collaborations further with Machel Montano (Trinidad), Iyanya (Nigeria) and Vinicius D’black (Brazil). A conviction summarized in her song Talento: use your talents.

Major works

Work	Year	Why it’s essential
Sem Bó Nes Mund	1996	First solo album: lays its foundations between kriolu and zouk
Fofó	1999	Revelatory album with “Ohi Li Oh La”, international hit
Tudo Pa Bo	2002	Recognition in Lusophone Africa; gold record
Saida	2008	R&B turning point at Blue Jay Studio in Los Angeles
Vitoria	2015	International reach, duels with African and Caribbean stars

Legacy

Suzanna Lubrano opened doors. In 2003, when she received her Kora Awards, no one in Cape Verde expected to see a zouk singer from Rotterdam on that stage. Since then, dozens of Cape Verdean diaspora artists have built upon her model. Her music is a bridge: between the native island and Rotterdam, between kriolu and English, between zouk and R&B. She sings, she crosses paths, she inspires — and her voice remains, more than twenty-five years after her first steps on stage, one of the major figures of contemporary Cape Verdean music.