Nelson Freitas is a Netherland native making it big internationally in the world of R&B. His music is a combination of styles His hit single Rebound Chick off his album My Life has been playing on stations worldwide and has over 3 million views on YouTube. He has been performing all over the world because of his music and as he gears up for his next album and DVD release; he took some time out to talk to The Source.com.
How did you get into singing?
I started in a group called Quatro with a couple of friends as a hobby and for fun when we were kids.
It’s funny cause I started rapping but I found out that I wasn’t that good so I turned to singing which worked out a bit better. After that we did 3 albums together before I went solo in 2006.
Since then, I have done 2 albums and I’m working on my 3rd album as we speak.
Where are you from?
My parents are from Cabo Verde, but I was born in the Netherland
How has the Netherlands treated you?
I was born here so I’m used to it. The weather is not that great but it is home.
Can you explain what exactly Zouk is and how it fits into your musical style?
I’m not an expert on Zouk. My style is more R&B mixed with African rhythms and a touch of Zouk.
I listened a lot to Zouk and R&B when I was younger so I was influenced by both styles when I started doing music so I just made a mix of both.
Who did you look up to when you started singing?
Michael Jackson
It seems you have a huge following in Europe can you talk about how that came about?
I think it’s because there are a lot of Caperdians in Europe and they picked up on the sound real early cause they could relate to my music. After that I started singing in English cause a lot of people were saying I love the beat but I don’t understand it so I made that change and that’s when other people started to like my songs. Now the sound has spread to United States, Africa, Canada, Australia and other places which is a good thing.
Talk about your single Rebound Chick which has gotten 3 million views on YouTube?
The song was something I wrote in the moment. It was produced by Kaysha and written by me. He sent me the song and I did it in 15 minutes and as soon as I was done I knew that it was going to blow up the only thing it needed was a good video so we did that and so far the song is doing great I’m still touring with it and it has been 2 years already since it came out so it’ a blessing.
What is the next step for Nelson Freitas?
I’m working on the new album & my DVD with all my videos and some extra footage. Stay tuned.
-Lulaine Compere
