It’s not often when I ask an artist about the challenges they faced getting into music that I get Yasmine’s answer. For her, it was basically plain-sailing – open doors all the way:
Quote Message: It was pretty cool and easy and flowed well. I was doing covers on YouTube and I did a cover of Badoxa, [an Angolan Portuguese musician] and they actually contacted me and said they really liked my stuff, [so] let’s just try.
It was pretty cool and easy and flowed well. I was doing covers on YouTube and I did a cover of Badoxa, [an Angolan Portuguese musician] and they actually contacted me and said they really liked my stuff, [so] let’s just try.
Quote Message: And we tried a first song and it actually worked! Then the second song worked, and the third song worked – and it was like this wave of a lot of good songs.”
And we tried a first song and it actually worked! Then the second song worked, and the third song worked – and it was like this wave of a lot of good songs.”
Yasmine gave up her midwifery studies to follow her heart. Her family thought she was crazy, she says.
Quote Message: You have to be crazy to go for your dreams, you need to get out of the comfort zone and that’s what I did. I wanted to sing.”
You have to be crazy to go for your dreams, you need to get out of the comfort zone and that’s what I did. I wanted to sing.”
Yasmine’s Kizomba love songs which often tell stories of heartache and heartbreak are now incredibly popular in Lusophone Africa, especially with women. They get millions of hits on YouTube, obviously not all from Guinea-Bissau which has a population of just two million, many of whom are not online.
Quote Message: I have a lot of countries following my music. Portugal is one of them, then Angola, Mozambique, France, England…”
I have a lot of countries following my music. Portugal is one of them, then Angola, Mozambique, France, England…”
Yasmine was born and grew up in Portugal, but says she’s always been immersed in the culture and music of Guinea-Bissau, the homeland of both her parents, and was overwhelmed when she finally visited the country last year for a concert:
Quote Message: I’m a daughter of the land, so I was really well welcomed. It was amazing, one of the greatest experiences I’ve had, being able to go to the house my mum grew up in, and meeting the family I had never met. I was so close to my inner self, it was crazy, a lot of feelings, mixed feelings.”
I’m a daughter of the land, so I was really well welcomed. It was amazing, one of the greatest experiences I’ve had, being able to go to the house my mum grew up in, and meeting the family I had never met. I was so close to my inner self, it was crazy, a lot of feelings, mixed feelings.”
The song that introduced me to Yasmine is called Pega Nha Mon.
It’s about the traditional Guinea-Bissau rituals that happen when a man asks a family for their daughter’s hand in marriage. The video for the song depicts joyful faces and much celebration and feasting.
I can only imagine that Yasmine’s homecoming looked very similar.
