PAP World Music Series Presents : Cissa Paz

Meet us at Port-au-Prince – a crossroads for those who love Haiti, her culinary and artistic offerings, as well as the arts and culture beyond her shores. Indeed, we aim to be a true “port” where the world intentionally collides! Next up in our music series, we present to you Cissa Paz!

Born in Belgium by chance, Cissa was raised mostly in Rio de Janeiro. She began her musical love affair by spending afternoons with the sounds of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina and other Brazilian greats coming from her parents’ record player. Her musical tastes matured as she kept sampling the musical diversity of the world. Her dance background is reflected on her music and is why most of her songs have a rhythmic sound that gets people on their feet.

​Cissa’s sound was initially influenced by samba, afoxé, forro, maracatu and the popular music of Brazil. After moving to the U.S., she fell in love with Jazz, Go-go, Soul and Hip Hop and over the years her travels exposed her to more of the world’s music landscape. After falling in love with the music of Cape Verde and studying much of it, Cissa is now writing songs with that influence at heart as well as her old and new discoveries. “I’ll never get tired of falling in love with music”, she says.

Cissa performs songs in Portuguese, Portuguese Creole, Spanish, French and English. With a voice that is soft and soulful and a vibrant stage presence, Cissa is fun to watch and enjoys talking about the lyrics and teaching audiences about the styles of music she performs.

Cissa is performing around the East Coast, in Brazil and Africa this year. She just wrapped up recording her next album in Rio.