Clarisse Albrecht
Clarisse Albrecht (born June 28, 1978) is a French recording artist, singer-songwriter and former model. Clarisse is an independent artist, co-producing her music. She's a multi-lingual singer-songwriter, performing and writing in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish. She currently lives between France and Dominican Republic. Early life. Clarisse Albrecht was born in Rueil Malmaison, France to a French father and Cameroonian mother. She split her childhood between France, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Growing up, Albrecht was listening to a lot of different musical genre : soul, R&B, funk, pop, Brazilian music (MPB, bossa nova) and  African music such as Makossa, Marabentta or Congolese Rumba. In the early nineties, her family went back to France. While in high-school, she started to sing in a gospel choir as a soloist and chorist. While studying Cinema at La Sorbonne Nouvelle, in Paris, she joined, as a background vocalist, a band performing Soul-Funk covers. She soon left the band to focus on creating her own musical identity. In 2004, she went to Brazil where a friend wrote to her a poem where he describes her as a "Mulata Universal". Albrecht came back to Paris with that nickname  in mind, inspiring her to write her own songs in Portuguese, the language of her childhood in Mozambique. She started to work on her own songs with her longtime friend LS as co-composer and producer. Career. In May 2010, she released independently (digital download only) her debut single "Você Me Dá", a deep-house tune with Brazilian music and soul influences. The song has been aired on more than 33 countries and over 125 radios. It has been two times nominated at the MOAMAS 2011 (Museke Online African Music Awards) as Best African Diaspora Song and Afro-Fusion. It  finally won the prize as Best African Diaspora Song. In February 2013, she released her second single "Não Posso Parar", a tune with a stronger Soul Music influence. On June, 22nd, 2015, she released her debut album entitled "Mulata Universal".