As he embarks in a solo career we caught up with Nelson Freitas to
discuss his new album and aspirations for the future. Nelson is a long
time member of the popular capeverdean boy band known as Quatro+
and he has established himself as a multi-talented artist. Here is a
glimpse of his personal and professional life.

Cabostation: You've been a member of Quatro+ for over a decade. Why did
 you decide to embark on a solo career?
Nelson Freitas: I've been thinking about it for a long time but I just didn't do
it due to the fact that the group released its album about a year and a half ago
and the album was doing that good that I had to delay my decision. But now
the time is right. I always wanted to do a solo album because I have a lot of
ideas and when you're working in a group you have to compromise, but now
I don't have to. It's 100% me and my ideas.

CS: Would this new CD mean that you are leaving Q+?
NF: A lot of people are asking me the same question. The answer is "no,"
I'm not leaving the group. We're releasing our "best of" album at the end of
the year and we're doing 3 new tracks on it. Now though I'm going to invest
a lot in my solo career because Quatro+ already has a good fan-base and
 I got to start making mine. I hope people will like my album.

CS: In terms of style and genre, what should fans expect from this solo project?
How similar or different is it from your work with Quatro+?
NF: I made something like 25 tracks to allow a good selection so that people could get a good taste of "me," you know what I'm saying. But since I did a lot of writing and producing with Quatro+, you'll definitely hear some of the same sounds but it will still sound very fresh. There are 2 tracks produced by Kaysha and me. In addition, I had to go back to the producers who worked on "Kazanga" and "meninas bonitas," my boys from M&N Productions, who are also contributting to this album.

CS: Did you collaborate with any artists in this CD?
NF: Yeah -- I have Kaysha, Tó Semedo, Johnny Ramos, Eddy Parker, and Raiz Fundado.

CS: Do you have any plans for a promotional tour?
NF: The release starts in Portugal in October followed by another release party in Holland. After that I might go to the States [U.S.A] (we are still working on that) and in November we'll go to Angola and I'm trying to go to Cabo Verde in December.

CS: What are your future plans in terms of your music career?
NF: My plans include releasing a couple of video clips and I'll be featuring on a couple of CD's with artists such as Kasha, Loony Johnson, and Don Kikas. As for producing, I'm working on some albums for people in Angola and Miss Jane Records is releasing a new guy at the end of the year. Furthermore, we're going to start producing Johnny's new album for next year.

CS: At a personal level, would you tell us a bit about your family background?
NF: I have a very big family. My mother has 6 brothers and sisters and my father has a lot of brothers and sisters and I don't even know how many... (laugh) My grand father still lives in Cape Verde and you know how it goes. I'm the first grandson of 30. I come from a very musical family: Johnny Ramos is my uncle and whose brother sings as well, Dyey Ramos. As you know, I have a brother within Quatro+ group and his name is Edson de Freitas.

CS: But where did your interest in music come from and who are some of the artists who
influenced your career?
NF: Those who influenced my career are, of course, Michael Jackson, James Brown but most of all, I'm influenced by producers like Timbaland, The Neptunes, Teddy Riley, and Rodney Yerkins. Being always with Johnny Ramos since my childhood, he too influenced me a lot. He used to produce tracks when he was little, so I learned a lot from him. It was with the help of Johnny that I started producing and writing music.

CS: How and when did you get your first break in the music industry?
NF: Well, I guess I gotta say that my first break was when we did our first song called "Hoje em Dia" for the first Mobass Project. The responses and feedback were so good that we decided to go ahead with our first album called "4 Voz."

CS: Finally, what is playing in your car nowadays? Any favorites?
NF: (hahaha) I just bought a new car but there is no CD player in it yet but the song I really love right now is by Gnales Barkley and I think the song is called "Crazy."

CS: Thank you for this interview and I hope to see you soon!!!
NF: Surely. Thanks and much appreciated.

Interview by DJ Guelas, Cabostation
copy-edited by Afrowave