October 2007 MIMI Mambo Preview: Loide Jorge

In MIMI's upcoming October 2007 issue, writer Nabila Isa-Odidi interviews jazz singer Loide Jorge in the article The Jazz Singer.

Loide's take on her music ...

MIMI: "Don't Forget" is a beautiful song that you co-wrote in honor of your father. Can you tell us a little bit about what that experience was like, what the song means to you, and what it means for those of us who live abroad and constantly struggle to maintain a sense of who we are as Africans.
LJ: Well a few years back I was participating in a program for which I had to present my music in away that captured my African heritage…and I got stuck. See, I was born in France, raised in California, but my papa and mama where born and raised in Bissau and Mozambique, so the constant conflict would revolve around " How African are you?" or "Can you even call yourself 'African'?" etc.., so when I had the task of displaying my heritage through the music I was like "Oh gosh, what the heck do I sing and how will do I sing it?!" That's when I sat down with a local jazz pianist/friend and we just talked it out…the song just unfolded, I am African because of who I come from, and regardless of where I am now, as long as I do not forget… my roots are secure. Simple as that, the story is universal on so many fronts! And as natural as the story came out, the song does as well.

Loide's take on today's music scene ...

MIMI: Music today is dominated by pop acts such as Beyonce and Rihanna. How do you see yourself fitting into the current musical landscape, and do you think that you might one day change your look and/or sound?
LJ: Well pop is pop, I'm not pop, but I respect the pop. And I'd be a lying chic if I said that I didn't listen and dance to pop either! I'll be the first to take my hat off to Beyonce, I can't do what she does…that is for sure! But you know what? She can't do what I do either, and that's because my mama is from Mozambique, my Papa from Guinea Bissau … my sound is in my blood, in the voices I heard growing up and hear even still. Will I change? Sure, I don't sound the same as I did only a few years back, and my hair's different too (laughs). If you are asking if I'll start wearing mini's and curly hair pieces, probably not, what would my mother think of me then?

You can read more about Loide Jorge in The Jazz Singer, which will be published in MIMI's upcoming October 2007 issue.

(Photo Credits: Provided Courtesy of Loide Jorge)