Pedro Lima was certainly the most iconic singer from Sao Tomé Island. Born in 1944, his career began at teenage, with his faithful band Os Leonenses, who were mostly members of his family and shared most of his musical life; and lasted until his death on January 31st, 2019. Until the very end, he kept performing big events all around the country, and was among the very few singers and bands from Sao Tomé and Principe that recorded in Luanda Angola for N'Gola and Merengue labels in the 70's, and in Lisbon for the essential IEFE imprint in the 80's.

Respected father of 27 children from 4 different wives, people named him "A voz do povo de Sao Tomé", the people's voice of the island, as he always made very clear his political views on internal affairs and backed since day one the revolutionary party that took power after the independence obtained from Portugal on July 12th 1975. A powerful and free soul, expressing through his beautifully soft and deep voice range, the concerns of the poor, in this often-troubled country.

His funerals were the biggest ever organized on the island, and were paid for by ex-president Pinto da Costa, gathering thousands to accompany him to his last home.

His music is wonderfully rich and delicate, though quite minimalistic in arrangements, revealing the subtle melodies of the islands' harmonic and backing vocals traditions, laid on either incredibly energetic Puxa rhythms, or the sweetness of sensual Rumbas.

Continuing our work on Sao Tomé and Principe with curator DJ Tom B., we are pleased to announce the release of Recordar é viver - Antologia Vol.1, the first volume of a retrospective of Pedro Lima’s work. You’ll find here some rare and unreleased tracks from the 80’s when he was at the top of his game.