Born and raised in Angola, singer Vivalda Dula, along with her classical guitarist husband Marcelo Robert, relocated from Luanda to Houston in 2012. In Houston, Dula recorded two albums of her percussion-heavy, Africa-inspired music, 2013’s Insanidade Mental and 2015’s Africa. A dynamic live act, with a griot’s gift for storytelling, Dula often sings her socially conscious lyrics in Kimbundu, a language banned from her country’s schools before the Angolan Civil War. Fittingly, Dula — who boasts an effervescent personality and impossibly glowing skin — just performed at the Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land. The new mom to an eight-month-old girl is currently recording an album with Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miller.
Angola native Dula prefers patterns and jewelry that reflect her heritage. She wears statement pendant necklaces, $200 each, and chain choker, $75, all by Jessie Dugan Designs, jessiedugan.com; sterling cuff with white and black diamonds, $3,200, at Deutsch & Deutsch; Arabesque dome statement ring, $7,300, by Pomellato at Zadok Jewelers.
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