Brazilian Artist Liniker Performs Live and Talks 'CAJU' Album

Latin Grammy-award winning Brazilian artist Liniker is town this week for her free show at Lincoln Center on July 18. Ahead of the concert, she performs live in our studio, discusses her latest album, CAJU, and reflects on what it meant to her to be the first transgender woman to ever win a Latin Grammy.

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Lincoln Center is currently putting on what it calls Brazil Week, a showcase of Brazilian artists and musicians, and no doubt, my next guest is one of the biggest stars in the bill. Liniker is a Brazilian singer-songwriter fresh off of a sold out European tour. She's performing music from her latest album called CAJU, released late last year. CAJU is a concept album. It tells the story of one day a trip from Japan to Brazil. We'll hear more about that in a bit. Liniker is performing a free concert on July 19th in Damrosch Park at 8 PM, but before then, she's with me now in studio for a live performance from her album. Welcome to WNYC.

Liniker: Thank you so much. What a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having us.

Alison Stewart: I'm very happy to see you.

Liniker: Me too.

Alison Stewart: Are you going to perform a song for us?

Liniker: Yes.

Alison Stewart: What are we going to hear?

Liniker: We're going to start with Caju.

[MUSIC - Liniker: Caju]

Quero saber se você vai correr atrás de mim

Num aeroporto

Pedindo pra eu ficar, pra eu não voar

Pra eu maneirar um pouco

Que vai pintar uma tela do meu corpo nu

Você já decorou quantas tatuagens tenho?

Se eu ligo pra cartoon ou rabisco os meus desenhos

Quantos shows tem na minha agenda, meu disco favorito

O peso do meu coração (meu coração)

Onde serão as férias? Qual tamanho da demanda?

No samba, sei que samba, e o que será que faz chorar?

Será que você sabe que, no fundo, eu tenho medo

De correr sozinha e nunca alcançar?

Eu me encho de esperança, de algo novo que aconteça

Quem despetala a rosa estará lá pro que aconteça?

Nuns dias, sou carente, completa, suficiente

Quero amor correspondente pra testemunhar

Quando eu alçar o voo mais bonito da minha vida

Quem me chamará de amor, de gostosa, de querida?

Que vai me esperar em casa, polir a joia rara

Ser o pseudofruto, a pele do caju

Quero saber se você vai correr atrás de mim (correr atrás de mim)

Num aeroporto

Pedindo pra eu ficar, pra eu não voar

Pra eu maneirar um pouco

Que vai pintar uma tela do meu corpo nu

Você já decorou quantas tatuagens tenho?

Se eu ligo pra cartoon, se eu rabisco os meus desenhos

Quantos shows tem na minha agenda? O meu disco favorito?

O peso do meu coração

Onde serão as férias? Qual tamanho da demanda?

No samba, sei que samba, e o que será que faz chorar?

Será que você sabe que, no fundo, eu tenho medo

De correr sozinha e nunca alcançar?

Eu me encho de esperança, de algo novo que aconteça

Quem despetala a rosa estará lá pro que aconteça?

Nuns dias, sou carente, completa, suficiente

Quero amor correspondente pra testemunhar

Quando eu alçar o voo mais bonito da minha vida

Quem me chamará de amor, de gostosa, de querida?

Que vai me esperar em casa, polir a joia rara

Ser o pseudofruto, a pele do caju

Alison Stewart: The talk after that, that was so good.

Liniker: Thank you so much.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that was Liniker performing. The new album is called CAJU. She'll be performing July 19th at Damrosch Park at 8 PM. Tell us what that song was about.

Liniker: When I wrote this song, I was trying to figure out myself and wondering, what is the next step of my life? I think that you know, the point on your life when you have to decide where I go now, what I want, what I don't want more. I think that Caju is about that. It's about imaginarium trip coming to Japan from Brazil. This time, I had a lot of time to think about my life. A lot of time to think about my passions. A lot of time to think about my heart, to think about my new directions. I think that all the songs from CAJU is about a new journey, about a new thing, and new wishes in life.

Alison Stewart: What new passions came up for you?

Liniker: I'm a Cancer girl.

Alison Stewart: Me too.

Liniker: You too?

Alison Stewart: July 4th.

Liniker: I'm July 3rd.

Alison Stewart: Ah—

Liniker: Nice.

Alison Stewart: Nice.

Liniker: I think that I've been growing about passional. I'm growing about love. I think that when I was more young than now, I had another point of view. I think that now I would like to live a passion with more care, with more time, with no rush. I think that Caju and all my songs is about to recreate myself to something bigger and to something more special.

Alison Stewart: What did you have to let go of?

Liniker: The pain, the insecurity, the things that may feel myself less than I am. I think that I've been living a very special moment in my life, and Caju is very special about this to me because I was going through a lot of deeply feelings about depression, about hard feelings, and I think that when I decide to compose this song, when I decide to compose this album with all this crew, everybody hold me. My spirituality hold me, too, and I think that is good when we have support to go on.

Alison Stewart: All right. I looked up caju on the internet, and it said it's the fruit that's attached to a cashew. We know that's for sure.

Liniker: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Does it mean something else?

Liniker: I think caju is a very Brazilian fruit.

Alison Stewart: Yes.

Liniker: When I decide to compose this album, I would like to do an album very Brazilian, but album that I can explore more around the world, and caju in Brazil is the fruit that we have more, how can I say this word in English, when we put the fruit to the other countries? Yes, exportation.

Alison Stewart: Exportation of the fruit. Okay.

Liniker: Yes, it's the most exportation fruit to the world from Brazil. I think that this album deserves to go to the world as this fruit.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Liniker. You can see her perform as part of Brazil Week, a part of Lincoln Center. She'll be performing on July 19th at Damrosch Park at 8 PM. I read that you recorded the album on analog tape. Old school?

Liniker: Yes. Was amazing. Was very specific because I think that when you decide to record something like this, the texture that we had is amazing. It's something old. It's something from the past.

Alison Stewart: Let's hear our next song we're going to hear from you. What are we going to hear?

Liniker: The song called Papo de Edredom.

Alison Stewart: Oh, I'm glad you said that.

Liniker: Yes.

[MUSIC - Liniker: Papo de Edredom]

É, pode ser do seu jeito

Não arme confusão

Por mim 'tá tudo perfeito

Sair da contramão

De longe não há defeitos

Nós dois na multidão

É quase verão mas outra estação

E eu o tempo todo só calor com você

Debaixo das cobertas você me ensina

Uma rima diferente que eu não sei

O momento que eu deixei você me ver

Inteira e transparente, como um violão

Eu não desejo pra ninguém o que você me fez

Foi pura sacanagem é recordação

Beijo na boca, no mar (Tão bom)

Dançar ao som de Djavan

Vamos revirar os olhos de manhã

No fio dessa conversa, papo de edredom

É, pode ser do seu jeito

Não arme confusão (Não, não)

Por mim 'tá tudo perfeito

Saí na contramão

De longe não há defeitos

Nós dois na multidão

É quase verão mas outra estação

E eu o tempo todo só calor com você

Debaixo das cobertas você me ensina

Uma rima diferente que eu não sei

O momento que eu deixei você me ver

Inteira e transparente, como um violão

Eu não desejo pra ninguém o que você me fez

Foi pura sacanagem minha recordação

Alison Stewart: My guest is Liniker, the Brazilian singer and songwriter. She's performing as part of Lincoln Center's Brazil Week with a free concert on July 19th in Damrosch Park at 8 PM. Her latest album is called CAJU. She's here in studio with her band. Would you please introduce everybody?

Liniker: Yes. In piano, Herbert Medeiros.

Alison Stewart: Nice to meet you.

Liniker: In the guitar, Mackson Kennedy.

Alison Stewart: Hello.

Liniker: In the bass, Ana Karina Sebastião.

Alison Stewart: Nice to meet you.

Liniker: In the drum, Sérgio Machado.

Alison Stewart: So nice to meet you.

Liniker: The best musicians from the world.

Alison Stewart: And you.

Liniker: And I'm Liniker.

Alison Stewart: You know what? You're sounds like a cliché, but your voice is your instrument?

Liniker: Yes.

Alison Stewart: How did you want to use your instrument on CAJU?

Liniker: I think that I've been discovering my voice since when I started to sing and since when I decided to put myself like this, singing to the world. I think that I can sing. I can speak to a lot of people coming from Brazil, a country that is very beautiful, but we have a lot of difficulties, too. Being a trans woman, a Black woman, I think that my voice is my legacy, is my power, is my way to give love to the world. I think that doing music like this, it is my thing, is what I like to do, and I want to keep doing this forever.

Alison Stewart: What is your process when you have a song in your heart or in your mind? How do you go about getting it down? Is it the lyrics? Is it the music? Is it pulling out your phone app, and singing into that? [laughs]

Liniker: Yes. My phone is my best friend at this moment. I think that every time I feel that music is coming, I'm feeling so excited and so happy, because when you know that a song will be a good song, your body talk, you feel everything. I'm living this process right now because we dropped CAJU last year, but I'm feeling the energy from the studio. I'm feeling the energy of new songs, and my body is shaking because I know that good songs are coming. I think that when you have to put out something special like this, I'm here to pass through the world what I've been feeling, and I think that music and passion is like this. We don't have how to control.

Alison Stewart: You may come by it naturally because of your mom. Your mom was a great dancer.

Liniker: My mom is a great dancer. Yes, she is.

Alison Stewart: What made her special as a dancer?

Liniker: My mom is a very free woman. I think that since I was a child, mom always gave me the support to be myself. I think the more special thing about her is that she is herself. She don't judge herself. She don't put control about herself, and she just go there and dance, and go to the samba and drink her beer, and go to the night with her friends. She's amazing. She's my huge inspiration in life.

Alison Stewart: You have been touring internationally, nonstop. What do you do to relax, to just take time for Liniker?

Liniker: I love to sleep.

Alison Stewart: Sleep? [laughs]

Liniker: Sleep always. I always try to live something like seven hours, and I like to walk in the cities. I like to photograph things.

Alison Stewart: Oh, interesting.

Liniker: Yes.

Alison Stewart: I was going to ask, you're going to be in New York for a few days?

Liniker: Yes, I arrived yesterday, and I will leave on Sunday. That is not my first time in New York. I'm always here. I love the city.

Alison Stewart: What do you do to enjoy New York City?

Liniker: The last time I came with more time, I went to Broadway. I went to watch Wicked for the first time. I have a very special friends here. I go to a jazz bar called Smalls.

Alison Stewart: Smalls, yes.

Liniker: Yes, it was amazing. Go to the park. It's something always chilling with my friends.

Alison Stewart: I have been speaking with Liniker. She and her band are performing a free concert as part of Lincoln Center's Brazil Week. The concert is July 19th at Damrosch Park at 8 PM. We really appreciate you being in studio with us.

Liniker: Thank you so much for having us.

Alison Stewart: Will you play us out?

Liniker: We love it. Thank you so much.

Alison Stewart: What song are we going to hear?

Liniker: Now we're going to perform a samba called Mayonga.

Alison Stewart: This is Liniker.

Liniker: Thank you.

[MUSIC - Liniker: Mayonga]

Tem uma rezadeira na janela

Vou passar pra falar do lado de cá

Chorar amores e mazelas

Peço água de cheiro pra curar

Rua direita só dá ela

Ela parada de frente pro mar

Passava a vida aos olhos dela

Até que parei, pedindo pra falar ao coração

Que eu quero paz e alguém pra ficar um tempo

E dure mais que um verão

O amor, uma rotação do luar

Dona Maria ou Cinderela, da asa à Joana virou Ângela

A vida vira passarela, pra virar feitiço, tem que rezar

Preta que vira é aquarela, tão colorida pra não orbitar

Tá no roteiro da novela, vai que dá, quе dá, que dá, que dá

A rezadеira da janela, passou de tudo pra eu me curar

Tome mayonga à luz de velas, vai brilhar, brilhar, brilhar

Liniker: In the piano, Herbert Medeiros. In the guitar, Mackson Kennedy. On the bass, Ana Karina Sebastião. On the drums, Sérgio Machado. Thank you so much for having us. I hope to see you on Saturday at Lincoln Center. Thank you so much. When Brazil is in the house, we make some noise. Whoo! Yeah!

[MUSIC - Liniker: Mayonga]

Liniker: Whoo! You guys are incredible. Thank you.