He already has a name, but now he needs to make a first name for himself: Kirá, son of Manu Chao, is on his first tour of the country since the end of June. After playing in Tadoussac, Port-Alfred and as far as British Columbia, he is the guest of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, this Tuesday.
The son of…
We’ve seen plenty of “sons of” get into music over the years. Some take full advantage of their dad’s fame, like Joey Sumner (son of Sting), whose trio opened for The Police in 2007; others try to avoid the subject, like Bono’s son Elijah Hewson. Kirá is unlike either of them. He introduces himself only by his first name, avoiding his famous surname, while knowing full well what he owes to this lineage. “I’m privileged in that [mon père est célèbre]. Without it, I wouldn’t be in Canada,” acknowledges the young musician, who notably performed on stage with his father at La Boule Noire in Paris in 2017 (see the video below). Such a lineage can also be a heavy burden to bear, he adds, suggesting that it doesn’t only elicit positive reactions. “I try to be myself,” he says simply, “and do my own thing.”
Child of Brazil
Kirá was born in Fortaleza, a large city in Brazil’s Northeast, at the turn of the millennium. He and his mother moved to Brasília when he was a teenager. He still lives in Brazil’s capital, a city purposely created to be the seat of government and inaugurated only 64 years ago. Which has had a significant influence on his music scene, according to Kirá. “It’s a young city, where people from all over the country live,” he says. “My generation is one of the first to grow up and live in Brasília. This city is like a blank slate, we have the space to create something new and unique with influences and inspirations from all over the country.”
The call of music
Kirá does not connect his first musical memories to his father, but rather to his maternal grandfather, who introduced him to the greats of Nordeste music, including Luiz Gonzaga, the king of baião, and other singers from this region where forro also comes from. His father rather made him live music, we understand. Not by dragging him to big shows, but by teaching him guitar chords and taking him to play at friends’ houses or in other places where music is shared on a human scale. His big turning point only dates back to his mid-adolescence, when he saw friends of his making their own songs. “I told myself that I could do that, too,” he sums up. His real professional debut dates back to 2019, with his group Kirá ea Ribanceira, with which he released a mini-album in 2021. He began a solo career in 2023 with Eye Açudea collection of more intimate songs.
Kira and Ribanceira, Baião do Cerrado
Build relationships
Kirá speaks of his music as a border between Fortaleza and Brasília, between the north and the center of his country. He says borderin English, but we understand that he is talking more about a meeting point, a bridge, links. He is inspired by tradition – forro, baião, among others –, which he mixes with more current styles and Latin American music such as Colombian cumbia and Cuban bolero. “My roots are anchored in Brazilian culture, but as we say in our country, roots grow, adapt, give birth to something new,” says the musician. “They are not fixed.” His latest song, Bota Pra Rodarlaunched in April, nevertheless shows signs of rock inclinations. A false lead, it seems, since his next collection of songs will have more “digital” elements. Four titles should be released by the end of the year and a full album in 2025.
Hope as fuel
A huge country marked by deep social inequalities and urban insecurity, Brazil faces major challenges. Is it difficult to be 25 years old in this country and believe in the future? “It’s not easy, but we have to keep hope, we can’t do otherwise,” he says. “Hope is our fuel.” Kirá loves his country, its people, its culture. He also has kind words for the people he met on his way, here, during the shows given in Saguenay and Tadoussac in June. “It was great, it was perfect,” he says with a smile. “It was a nice surprise. As if the people of Quebec had taken us in their arms. We felt good.”
Kirá and his musicians will be at the Balattou this Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The Nuits d’Afrique festival is presented until Sunday, July 21.
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