Marta Dias


Marta Dias is a São Toméan Portuguese singer of Jazz, World music and fado who has recorded several solo albums and has additionally recorded and toured extensively with guitarist António Chainho. She has also appeared on several Hip hop releases, including the Ithaka song, Escape From The City Of Angels, which appeared in Columbia Pictures's feature film release, The Replacement Killers in 1998.

Early life

Marta Dias was born in São Tomé the capital city of the West African island nation of São Tomé and Principe to a Portuguese mother and a São Toméan father. Her grandmother was from Goa, India,. Her father, Nuno Xavier Dias, is credited as the person who proclaimed the liberation of São Tomé from colonial rule. The family relocated to the Lisbon-area of Portugal when Marta was a young girl.
She sang for the first time as a teenager at the Teatro de Animação de Setúbal in Setúbal, Portugal. And later, while briefly living in Germany, studied vocals in Cologne, with the Brazilian singer Marta Laurito.

Early career

Marta Dias' first professional recordings were with the pioneering, Lisbon-based Hip hop tuga artist General D,. She was featured on his songs "Amigo Prekavido" and "Raiz Desenraizadao" for the album Pé Na Tchôn, Karapinha Na Céu, one of the first hip hop releases in Portugal. The recording with General D led to more acquaintances within the Lisbon music community. She soon recorded the song, "Bairro De Lata" with the jazzy hip hop band, Cool Hipnoise and also recorded the songs "Goodcookies" and "Escape From The City Of Angeles

Recent career

Marta Dias released the album "Quantas Tribos" in 2016. The album is a tribute to five of the greatest poets from São Tomé and Príncipe; Maria Manuela Margarido, Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo, Francisco José Tenreiro, Fernando de Macedo and Conceição Lima. The album utilizes these classic poems as lyrical content, intertwining Marta's vocals over instrumental compositions provided by the classical guitarist, Oswaldo Santos. Vocalist Carmen Souza participates on the song in "Os Rios Da Tribo" and Angolan poet/vocalist appears Kalaf on the song, "Humanidade".
In 2018, Marta Dias and Goan pianist Carlos Barreto Xavier collaborated on the album, "Bandida", consisting of twelve tracks, utilizing both traditional Portuguese music blending with more modern urbans sounds. The album also features percussionist Ruca Rebordão and Yuri Daniel on electric bass.

Albums

In 1998, three years after its release, the Ithaka song "Escape From The City Of Angels" was used in the soundtrack of director Antoine Fuqua's feature film debut Replacement Killers released by Columbia Pictures. The song played during a critical getaway scene that involved the actors; Chinese superstar Chow Yun-fat, Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino and Screen Actors Guild Award "Best Actor" winner Clifton Collins Jr.. Other musical artists on the soundtrack included; The Crystal Method, Talvin Singh, Tricky, Death In Vegas, Hed PE, and Brad.