Brazilian superstar Liniker on her album, ‘Caju’, and how her name was inspired by Gary Lineker

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. This time I speak of Latin Grammy award-winning Brazilian superstar Lineker on her latest album Caju, a sunny dose of optimism. And also we discuss her recent European tour.

0:40Lineker, what a pleasure talking to you. I mean, I absolutely love your music and your latest album, Caju. But first, before we start the interview, talking about your European tour, tell us a bit more about yourself. Where actually in Brazil are you from? I know we're from the same state. You're from a small town called Araraquara, right? Yes. I'm born and raised in Araraquara. I sit in the countryside of São Paulo. And I went to study theater in São Paulo in 2014. so I've been living there for 11 years now. I think that I had a good childhood living in a country city, walking and playing in the street with the other kids of my neighborhood.

1:27So this made me very, very, very, it's not silly, the word, but I think that I had a very simple journey in the childhood And since when I was a kid, I had some contact with art, with dancing in some schools or theater in the school. And I think that this made myself and this helped me to catch the possibilities to do what I do today. But I'm burning radians in Anaracuara. I lived there when I was 18 years old. What was your first music inspiration? Because listening to your albums, it's such a lovely mixture of sounds. You have soul, you have, you know, disco. There's so many different elements.

2:20And I was wondering, when you were young, what type of music were you listening? What Brazilian artists were your inspiration, perhaps? I've become from a family of musicians. So everybody in my home plays something or sings something. And I think that we had the samba as an inspiration. So I loved to hear when I was a kid, Alcione, Djavan, Bellu, Whitney Houston, Best in the Child, Beyonce, One More, Chaka Khan, all the R &B classics, I think, that made me imbued in my music appreciation. Not an artist, I think, in specific. Then when I was getting old, I think that I have my favorite one, that is Dejavan.

3:13But I think that when I was a child, we had a lot of inspirations, a lot of things put on the table and we can choose and we could choose what to listen. What an amazing selection of names you just said. I want to talk about Caju, your latest album, which I think is absolutely fabulous. And do you think that album is a little bit of a turning point in your career? Of course, you had amazing albums before as well, but this one really connected with people, not just your fans. I think it really, you know, perhaps expanded as well the people that know your name and that know your music, right? So I think that the turning point came with passion and patience too, because I think that in this journey this year, I will complete 10 years of career.

4:04I've been so patient with myself, giving it step by step and not rushing myself and not trying to get to some point that I was not prepared yet. And I think that the success of Caju came with this piece that I found and I work inside myself. Being an independent musician in Brazil, being a trans person in Brazil, doing what I do, give to my country and receive all this kind of energy too. It's not easy. So in all this journey doing music, I had to be patient with myself. and I have to understand exactly what I need now, what I want to go, what I don't want to go now, what I don't want to do now.

4:55And I think that know-how to choose has helped me to have the success that I've been having now with Caju. And it is a very, very good producer album. We work hard. We work a lot. we choose every particular thing of the project. We decided when I said we, it's because I produced this album with three important people. That is Fezuka and Gustavo Ruiz, who is heading the project with me. And then we invited some other producers to work with us. But I think that the choose was the thing about this process. And I wonder for our international listeners Tell us about Caju It's a very bright name It's a very kind of sunny, optimistic tone, right?

5:50So tell us why did you choose Caju as a title? So when I wrote Caju I was wondering to live a full sunny day A full sunny day Out the summer In any winter In any weather but always had to have to get sun inside us. And I decided caju because caju is one of the fruit more exporting of the Brazil to the world. There's a very specific smell. There's a very specific taste. And I think that at this point in my career, I've been feeling myself as a caju. I'll become 30 in a few days. I wrote this album when I was passing through a very special spiritual healing process. So I was feeling myself as a very potential fruit.

6:46I was feeling myself as, I think, that born in a tree, and not born just for yourself, but born to a legend, born to a nation, born to getting food to not just yourself, but for everybody. And I think that Caju helped me to see myself with more careful, with more love, with more respect. I create this character that is Caju and that is the fruit to help me to see myself with more passion, I think. Oh, that's beautiful. What can you tell us about Papo de Edredon, which is one of my favorite songs from the album?

7:46Yeah, Papo de Edredon was a very special song that I wrote in Bahia, Salvador, with Meli, a very special producer, singer, and songwriter. And I was passionate for a love. I think that all the songs that I've been doing is about some passions, is about some lovers. And I remember that at this point, I went on vacation to Salvador and we met Mili and I. And I was talking to her about a guy and how he made me feel, how I was feeling. And I think that is almost full moon. And we started talking about the moon and then the song became and that is the heat that it is now. But I love the song because I love the textures.

8:31I love the lyrics. I love the way we decided to produce. I love the way my voice and Melly's voice mix. It's so amazing. And I think that, I don't know if you have the opportunity to add the concert, but in the concert is one of my favorites. And it's nice to see how the crowd responds when Puppet de Dredom begins. Well, and talking about the crowd and your gig in London, you are about to finish your European tour how does it feel? do you like to represent your music and Brazil as well on the foreign stage because there's more and more people actually paying attention to your music not just in Brazil but outside as well yeah and I think that this tour it's given to us a very exciting moment that is to leave some sold out in very huge and specific venues of music in the world.

9:33The case of the Electric Brixton, that is one of the more important venues from London. And we had this sold out. I know that when artists came in from Brazil, came out to a country, we would have a lot of Brazilian people at the Crown. But I think that now it's easy to see that the Brazilian love me. The people from the countries and the people from outside, it's coming to and that is very specific and interesting. I've been doing some Euro tours for some years but at this time now I'm feeling that I've never lived something so nice coming to here and showing my music, showing my voice, showing my band, showing my introducing my new album.

10:22We're having a very special response and a very special answer came I mean, from everybody, I'm tired because to a lot of concerts in sequence, changing the country, changing the hotels, changing the bad hotels, changing. OK, I slept here and I woke up there. It's not easy, but I'm feeling so grateful and it's so special to to live. What have the sight to live? You know, I just want to I need to ask this question because we're here talking from the UK. Is it true that your name was somehow influenced by the famous footballer and TV host Gary Lineker? Yeah, Lineker is his surname. And someone of my family adored the sound that Lineker made in the head.

11:17And my mom decided to give me this name, choosing the E for I. so it's L-I-N-A-K-E-R and mine is L-I-N-I-K-E-R but it's about this surname I think it's fun I think it's really fun listen Lineker what a pleasure I'm a huge fan so good luck and I would love to see you back in London as well in the future thank you Lineker, muito obrigado

12:03Thank you very much, Lineker. What a pleasure. You can string her album Caju right now. The show was edited by Elliot Greenfield and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.