Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 20 million albums worldwide. Daniela has a degree in dance from the Federal University of Bahia, having started her studies in this art since she was four years old, later becoming a teacher of jazz, modern and classical ballet, besides having specialized and performed in other genres, such as Afro Dance and contemporary dance. She began singing professionally at the age of fifteen, the same age at which she rode a trio elétrico for the first time, integrating her career as singer and dancer.
She released her eponymous album in 1991, followed by O Canto da Cidade in the following year, leveraging her career as a national artist and bringing the axé music genre to the forefront. Over the years, she released several albums, generating great hits like "Swing da Cor", "O Canto da Cidade", "À Primeira Vista", "Rapunzel", "Nobre Vagabundo", "Ilê Pérola Negra (O Canto do Negro)", "Mutante", "Maimbê Dandá", "Levada Brasileira", "Oyá Por Nós", among others. She recorded a DVD commemorating 25 years of Cirque du Soleil and was part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. In addition, she participated in Alejandro Sanz's album and sang with Paul McCartney in Norway during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Winner of a Latin Grammy for her album Balé Mulato - Ao Vivo, she also received six Brazilian Music Awards, an APCA award, three Multishow awards, and two VMB awards, for best music video and photography. On television she was a judge and mentor for the talent shows Popstars, Superstar, and The Voice Kids Portugal.
In 2013, Daniela released in partnership with her wife Malu Verçosa, whom she married in Portugal the same year, her first book, Daniela e Malu: Uma História de Amor.
Attentive to the Brazilian social reality and with a great desire to contribute to the preservation of our cultural matrices, Daniela created her Institute "Sol da Liberdade" in 2008. Today, in partnership with UNICEF and ESPN Brasil, the ISL carries out the Caravana da Música project. The Caravana da Música is an itinerant project that has been touring Brazil since 2007, visiting one city every month. The cities to be visited are indicated by UNICEF, according to the HDI (Human Development Index) and the IDI (Child Development Index). In each of the cities visited, the "Music Caravan" sets up a large infrastructure where it offers 3,000 children an unprecedented experience with dance, music, theater, instrument building, circus art, and several other artistic experiences. In addition to the children, the Music Caravan also offers training in Art Education for 250 public school teachers from each of the visited cities. The Music Caravan has already directly assisted more than 50 thousand children and 30 thousand teachers. Considering that each public school teacher trained by the Caravan becomes an Art Education multiplier, it is estimated that the Music Caravan has already indirectly reached more than half a million Brazilians. All the activities of the Music Caravan in the countryside of Brazil are recorded by the ESPN Brazil team, which broadcasts a monthly documentary about the project's activities. The documentary is shown in Brazil and in 157 other countries.
Besides presiding the Instituto Sol da Liberdade, Daniela is also UNICEF's National Goodwill Ambassador, a title she received in 1995, when she became the second Brazilian personality to receive such honor. She has also participated in several benefit shows in favor of children, among them the UNICEF/ Rede Globo's Criança Esperança and the AACD/SBT's Teleton. Part of the rights to her 1998 album Elétrica were donated to UNICEF. She is also an ambassador for the Ayrton Senna Institute. Daniela has also participated in other charitable projects, not directly linked to children. On October 7, 2003, she took part in the show Solidariedade Brasil-Noruega in favor of Fome Zero at the National Theater, in Brasilia. She is also connected to the NGO América Latina em Ação Solidária (ALAS), having participated in September 2007 in an advertising campaign promoting aid to the earthquake victims in Peru. In 2013 she was invited to participate in the UN global campaign, Free & Equal, along with Ricky Martin and other international artists.
Força do Ilê
Daniela Mercury Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Veio lá do alto
É belo como a íris dos olhos de Deus
E no repique, no batuque
No choque no aço
Eu quero penetrar
No laço afro que é meu
Vem cantar você
Bate os pés no chão moçada
E diz que é do Ilê Ayê
Lá vem a negrada que faz
O astral da avenida
Mas que coisa bonita
Quando ela passa me faz chorar
Lá vem a negrada que faz o astral da avenida
Mas que coisa bonita
Quando ela passa me faz chorar
Tu és o mais belo dos belos
Traz paz e riqueza
Tens o brilho tão forte
Por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
Tu és o mais belo dos belos
Traz paz e riqueza
Tens o brilho tão forte
Por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Lá vem a negrada que faz
O astral da avenida
Mas que coisa tão linda
Quando ela passa me faz chorar
Lá vem a negrada que faz
O astral da avenida
Mas que coisa tão linda
Quando ela passa me faz chorar
Tu és o mais belo dos belos
Traz paz e riqueza
Tens o brilho tão forte
Por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
Com sutileza cantando
E encantando a nação
Batendo bem forte em cada coração
Fazendo subir a minha adrenalina
Como dizia Buziga
Edimin
Emife Nagô Dilê
Edimin
Emife Nagô Dilê
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Tu és o mais belo dos belos
Traz paz e riqueza
Tens o brilho tão forte
Por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
Tu és o mais belo dos belos
Traz paz e riqueza
Tens o brilho tão forte
Por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
Como dizia Buziga
Edimin
Emife Nagô Dilê
Edimin
Emife Nagô Dilê
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Pérola Negra
Ê, Pérola Negra
Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Minha Pérola Negra, iê, iê
Pérola Negra
Ilê Ayê
The lyrics of Daniela Mercury's "Ilê Pérola Negra" celebrate the beauty and power of black culture, specifically the music and dance of the Afro-Brazilian tradition. The song starts with a reference to the beautiful sound of the black people's singing, which comes from above and is as beautiful as the iris of God's eyes. The verses then describe the drums and rhythms of the music, calling for the listener to join in and embrace their African heritage. The chorus repeats the phrase "Pérola Negra" (Black Pearl) several times, emphasizing the pride and value of blackness.
The song reflects the cultural movement called "Ilê Aiyê," which was founded in Salvador, Bahia, in 1974. The group's mission was to promote Afro-Brazilian culture, raise awareness of discrimination against black people, and instill a sense of pride and self-identity in the black community. Daniela Mercury herself was associated with the Ilê Aiyê group in her younger years and has spoken about how its teachings and values influenced her music and activism.
Overall, "Ilê Pérola Negra" celebrates not only the beauty of black culture but also its resilience and resistance against oppression. It encourages listeners to recognize their cultural heritage, embrace it, and fight for equality.
Line by Line Meaning
O canto do negro
The song of black people
Veio lá do alto
Came from up above
É belo como a íris dos olhos de Deus
It's beautiful like the iris in God's eyes
E no repique, no batuque, no choque no aço
And in the rhythm, the beat, the clash of the steel
Eu quero penetrar no laço afro que é meu
I want to deeply connect with my African roots
E vem cantar meu povo, vem cantar você
And let my people sing, let you sing too
Bate os pés no chão moçada e diz que é do Ilê Ayê
Stomp your feet on the ground and say you're from Ilê Ayê
Lá vem a negrada que faz o astral da avenida
Here comes the black people creating the atmosphere of the avenue
Mas que coisa bonita quando ela passa me faz chorar
How beautiful it is, it brings tears to my eyes as they pass by
Tu és o mais belo dos belos, traz paz e riqueza
You are the most beautiful of the beautiful, bringing peace and wealth
Tens o brilho tão forte, por isso te chamo de Pérola Negra
You have such a strong shine, that's why I call you Black Pearl
Com sutileza cantando e encantando a nação
Singing and charming the nation with subtlety
Batendo bem forte em cada coração
Beating strongly in every heart
Fazendo subir a minha adrenalina
Making my adrenaline rise
Como dizia Buziga Edimin Emife Nagô Dilê
As Buziga used to say, Edimin, Emife, Nagô Dilê
Ê, Pérola Negra, Pérola Negra, Ilê Ayê
Oh, Black Pearl, Black Pearl, Ilê Ayê
Minha Pérola Negra, iê, iê
My Black Pearl, iê, iê
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Agnaldo Pereira da Silva, Milton Souza, Renivaldo Santana Sena
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Raulzinxx 777
Carnaval sem essa música nem é Carnaval
moniki gosta
Rainha do axé maravilhosa❤️
Dan Esqui
Hino !!!!!!
Mimi Luanah
Rainha
Júnior Oliveira
Soberanaaa
David Pinheiro
Só baianos soteropolitanos pra se arrepiar com essas músicas !
David Pinheiro
Que ótimo! Mostra que a música é universal !
Rômulo Lima
Os maranhenses aqui também se arrepiam com essas músicas ❤️
Rita de Cássia
Os paulistas aqui também se arrepiam com essas músicas ❤
100EXU CAVERA mauricelio Alcântara
Jubtos