Paulo Bragança

The melancholy tones of Portugal's blues-like music, fado, has been brought up to contemporary standards by vocalist Paulo Braganca. While fado remains the foundation of his songs, Braganca has forsaken the traditional sounds in favor of flamenco rhythms, hip hop backbeats and elements of Brazilian pop music. As he explained during a 1996 interview, "when things aren't happy, we have to love our sadness -- that's what fado is to me". Born to Portuguese parents in colonial Angola, Braganca was exposed to fado from an early age. His father was an amateur singer and listened to o...