Although she was born in Havana, Cuba, Andrade’s parents are both Cape Verdean, and she and her family returned to Cape Verde a few days after her birth. Andrade spent the first years of her life in Cape Verde, but because her father was a diplomat for the Cape Verdean government, she traveled extensively with her family and lived in many countries during her childhood. Hence, during her childhood, she lived in Senegal, Angola, and Germany. However, she spent around two months of the year in the Cape Verdean island of Santiago. Andrade moved to Paris in 2002 when she was 17 years old and lived there until late 2015 when she moved to Lisbon, Portugal.

Andrade won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics Award) for her album Navega in 2007 and for Stória, stória… in 2009. She also won the Newcomer award at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008.

In 2011, she collaborated with Trio Mocotó on the track “Berimbau” for the Red Hot Organization’s most recent charitable album “Red Hot+Rio 2.” The album is a follow-up to the 1996 “Red Hot + Rio.” Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.

Andrade has stated that her fourth album, Lovely Difficult, released in November 2013, is less traditional than her first three efforts and more pop, with collaborations with artists from the United States, Israel, France, and The United Kingdom and songs in Portuguese, Cape Verdean creole, French, and English.

In 2013, she was nominated in the music category of the 21st Femmes en Or prize.

In 2014, her album Lovely Difficult was nominated in France for the Victoires de la Musique Award, in the World Music category.

Since 2015, Andrade has served as a celebrity ambassador for the United Nations campaign “Free and Equal”, which seeks to promote the human rights of the LGBT community in Cape Verde.

Andrade’s fifth album, Manga, is scheduled to be released on 8 February 2019. The album was recorded in Paris and Abidjan and features a mixture of Afrobeat, urban music, and traditional Cape Verdean rhythms.