Manuel Lopes Andrade, aka Tcheka, was born on the 20th July 1973 in the por… Read Full Bio ↴Manuel Lopes Andrade, aka Tcheka, was born on the 20th July 1973 in the port of Ribeira Barca, Santa Catarina district, on Santiago, the most African island of the Cape Verde archipelago. At a very early age, he began to perform alongside his father, Nho Raul Andrade, a highly popular violinist at the island’s village dances and festivities. Tcheka was in good hands. Every wrong note brought a rap on the knuckles from his father’s bow, but he learned quickly and soon made his mark at dances, weddings, baptisms and so on.
However, the boy had other ambitions. At 15, he began to develop a more personal style, based on batuque, one of Santiago Island’s more popular beats, originally played by women. One of the first pieces he wrote, “Man’ba des bes kumida dâ”, gave a clear idea of the musical path he wished to follow. His aim was to widen the appeal of batuque, turning it into a beat that everyone would love.
Batuque is a beat specific to the island of Santiago in the Cape Verde archipelago, conveys the collective memory and identity of a people. Batuque was first played after work in the fields, traditionally by women. Sitting in a circle, they tapped on a “tchabeta”, a bundle of cloth, normally made of piled loincloths that they rolled up and held between their legs. Depending on the thickness and compression of the fabric used, these cloth drums produced a variety of sounds. Batuque provided an accompaniment for “finaçon”, a vocal style that the women improvised to suit their audience and the occasion. Following African tradition, the singers commented on village events, celebrated farming festivals, births and marriages, and commemorated deaths. Sometimes one of them would enter the “terrero” (the inside of the circle) and dance.
Today, these inflexible traditions have been radically updated. Firstly, the women make their drums from plastic bags. Secondly, young men, Tcheka is not alone, are adopting these traditional styles, batuque and finaçon, to assert their African identity more actively.
As a young man, Tcheka left his rural home and went to live in Praia, where he became a cameraman for national television, a job that involved travel and broadened his horizons. In Praia, Tcheka met journalist Julio Rodrigues and wrote a number of songs with him. The two played informally in the bars of the Cape Verdean capital and other musicians soon joined them: percussionist Pery, bassist Kizo, flautist Robert Pemberton (a Scotsman who lived in Cape Verde) and, more recently, percussionist Raul.
Today, Tcheka is well-known in Praia for his work in modernising “batuque”, in much the same way as Catchas updated Funana, the other great Santiago beat, in the seventies. Providing a new reading of batuque while conserving its traditional structures is the message of Tcheka’s first album, entitled “Argui” , “rise / stand up” in Creole.

DJan Kre Bejabu
Tcheka Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

E bo minina forti bonita
Oh nhanha forti janota
Djam tem tempu 'n ka odjabu
Tempu 'n ka bejabu
Odja mo ku sta bonita, pilitoza

Mos kredu obrunucia, fisga kanhota
Jesus anti queda

E bo oh nhanha
Pamo bu ka dam um beju
Um beju di diseju, um beju di prazer

E bo, e bu la!
Eh Djam Kre Bejabu

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Tcheka's song Djan Kre Bejabu are in Cape Verdean Creole and English translation would be as follows:

"You are a strong, beautiful girl
Oh, my strong young lady
I've had no time to look at you
Time has not allowed me
Look at me, I'm elegant, charming

We believe in miracles, keep an eye out
Jesus prevents us from falling

You are a strong young lady
Because you don't waste time
A fruit of desire, a fruit of pleasure

It's you, it's your turn!
Hey, Djan Kre Bejabu"

The song talks about a man who admires a strong and attractive girl but is unable to express his love to her due to lack of time. He considers himself to be an elegant and charming man and hopes for a miracle to bring them together. The song also touches upon the theme of faith and how belief in miracles can prevent one from falling.

Line by Line Meaning

E bo minina forti bonita
You are a strong and beautiful girl

Oh nhanha forti janota
Oh dear, you are a strong woman

Djam tem tempu 'n ka odjabu
I haven't seen you in a long time

Tempu 'n ka bejabu
Time doesn't matter

Odja mo ku sta bonita, pilitoza
You are beautiful and charming when you smile

Mos kredu obrunucia, fisga kanhota
We believe in miracles, and wink our right eye

Jesus anti queda
Jesus never leaves

E bo oh nhanha
You are my dear

Pamo bu ka dam um beju
But you won't give me a kiss

Um beju di diseju, um beju di prazer
A kiss of desire, a kiss of pleasure

E bo, e bu la!
You are here with me!