Flavia Coelho is a Brazilian singer who mixes samba, bossa nova, Brazilian rap, reggae and ragga with a quirky, playful confidence. The daughter of a hairdresser for drag queens, Flavia learned to sing by emulating Diana Ross and a host of Brazilian Divas in her homemade echo chamber, a bucket on her head!
As a young girl growing up amidst the crime of the Rio favelas, she would cross the the city to sing in bars, training her voice in styles that went far beyond the rhythms of her home country, singing anything from grunge to punk, rock to jazz, rap to pop.
In 2006, Flavia left Rio for her current place of abode, Paris, There she recorded her debut album, ‘Bossa Muffin’, which was described by the Guardian as
“one of the most joyful, easygoing fusion sets of the year…a rhythmic clash of Brazilian and Caribbean styles…slinky melodies and bursts of rapid-fire hip-hop”.
‘Bossa Muffin’ earned Flavia a legion of fans and saw her headlining  at Womad, with a 15,000 strong crowd dancing to her infectious sounds. She was awarded the Golden Women Music Breakthrough prize and in 2013, performed two sold out shows at London’s Ronnie Scott’s .
‘Mundo Meu’ is Flavia’s latest album, released on 11th May, it sees her going back to her roots plunging into an urban jungle with coloured native slang. A wonderful mix of sounds, Flavia moves easily between samba, hip hop and urban funk. We see Eastern Europe take on tropical Jamaica, whilst African Roots join Kanak chants, as she tells the stories and recreates the sounds of her Brazillian youth.
Guests on the album include German superstar Patrice, cult rapper Speech, of Arrested Development, accordionist Fixi of Java, and the legendary drummer Tony Allen.
‘Mundo Meu’ by Flavia Coelho is due to be released on 11th May.
You can catch Flavia live at the following events:
May 17th – Norfolk & Norwich Festival, The Adnams Spiegeltent at 10pm. Tickets from £7.50 | +44 (0)1603 766400 | nnfestival.org.uk
May 18th – Rich Mix, London (the opening concert in the Serious Space Shoreditch Festival). Tickets £15 + Booking  richmix.org.uk | 020 7613 7498
For more information visit Flaviacoelhomusic.com.
‘Por Cima’ is the lead track from ‘Mundo Meu”.
