One of the main reasons I travelled to London was finding new sounds, experience music in a different way – straight to the source. And that’s how I found Nonô. The Brazilian artist moved to London two years ago and somehow manages to mix our traditional genres like samba and Rio’s funk to new beats.
In the last two months, she released a cover for “Blind to You”, originally from Collie Buddz, and her new single, “Nothing to Me” – that talks about “boys lixo” (a slang we have in Brazil for scrubs). It reminds us of R&B newcomers like Dua Lipa or Jorja Smith but influenced by Funk Carioca.
Check it out:
We had a chat about hidden gems in London, working with Joe Janiak and her new songs. Look!
Nonô, how long have you been living in London? Do you feel it affected your songs somehow (both lyrically and musically)?
I have been living in London for 2 years already and I definitely believe it has had an effect on everything that I do, not just within my music. Here, I became much more independent and therefore, I was experiencing things and meeting new people that inspired me to write the songs that I write.
Can we expect to hear Brazilian influences in other new songs?
YES! In every song that I write or perform on, I try bringing the maximum “brasilidade” there can be haha.
We heard you were in a session with Joe Janiak (Britney Spears, Tove Lo, Ellie Goulding), how was it? Can you tell us a little bit about the whole process?
Joe is an amazing guy and even more amazing producer/ songwriter! I went to his studio in LA for a few sessions and we showed each other our own projects, talked about our influences, and also talked about what bothers us the most in the music industry – which also happened to have sparked the idea for our song!
You’ve always been a huge fan of pop music, right? What new artists have you been listening to lately?
I’ve always kept an eye on the charts and because of that, I’ve always listened to a lot of pop. However, nowadays I have been listening more to people like Kali Uchis, Daniel Caesar Jessie Reyez, Mahalia who are more R&B influenced but still have a bit of that Pop feel.
Do you have any hidden gem in London?
Well, these examples are not very hidden but I love walking around Alexandra Palace and Parkland Walk. I also love the Gianluca’s Cafe sandwiches in Fulham Broadway and I love the store Chain Reaction in Camden.
And what do you miss most about Brazil (family and friends don’t count!)?
THE FOOD! I miss going to churrascarias, buying pastel in the market (feira), and I miss the Brazilian sushi!
