São Paulo – Certainly, the neighbors of the Assad family, in São João da Boa Vista, in the interior of São Paulo state, are already used to the lullabies of singing and musical notes. There, a multi-artist lived part of her childhood and returned as an adult. Influenced by an instrumentalist father, a singer mother, and a duo of guitarist brothers, Badi Assad built her own career that now spans over 30 years.
It was within the family she began to discover her multiple paths. “On the one hand, my mother is from Minas Gerais, a storyteller. My father was very determined; at age eight, he was already working in my grandfather’s warehouse, taking care of the cashier. I think it was a fascinating combination of the two,” she said.
The ‘Assad’ family name and Lebanese ancestry came from the paternal grandfather, who never told details of the land he came from. “We don’t know very well how my grandfather ended up in São João da Boa Vista, where he started a family with 18 children. He was in a new land and never spoke of his origin or culture. Everything transmitted to the family was due to his personality,” revealed the artist.
If the grandfather had one thing in common with the Arab community, it was his business acumen. “He brought this concept as a peddler and then set up a warehouse. It’s interesting because we can see which of his children had it; it seems to be part of the culture, our DNA. Aunt Olga was a merchant. It was impressive, a woman who was a feminist for her attitudes in life,” recalls the singer about one of her great references.
In addition to entrepreneurship, Badi’s father had a musical side coming from his mother. Married, it was at his wife’s side he was engaged to see their children’s musical gifts evolve. “My upbringing had my brothers studying classical guitar in the living room, my father would receive friends for choro music circles, and my mother was always an amazing born singer, she never became a professional, but she was always singing at home,” stated Badi.
The artist’s older brothers, Sergio and Odair, formed Duo Assad and specialized in classical guitar. Growing up under their influence, Badi started playing the guitar at age 14. “I wanted to follow my brothers’ path, but I soon realized that story was theirs. I started reinventing myself and looking for who I was. I already enjoyed singing, and I’m very curious; I liked percussion. I introduced this to my work. I created a style,” she revealed.
Three decades of career
After having experiences accompanying other artists on international tours as a guitarist, Badi was increasingly investing in singing. Her professional career began abroad when she was invited to work in the United States. “From the first record, in 1989, I started to travel [the world],” she explained.
With over 40 countries visited, the singer has recorded 20 albums. In her setlist, in addition to having composed and performed songs of different styles and ethnicities, Badi also sings in other languages. The primary language is English, but the artist has occasional works in others, such as the Arabic song Lamma Bada, which is available on the singer’s Spotify profile.
In addition to her solo career, Badi joined a multicultural group. In 2015, she was invited to work with the Chicago-based organization GATC (Genesis at the Crossroads), which focuses on building world peace. In the Saffron Caravan project, she was a guitarist and vocalist alongside musicians such as Moroccan Aaron Besoussan.
A multi-artist, she has also curated festivals, created film soundtracks, and written a book, ‘Volta ao Mundo em 80 Artistas’ [‘Around the World in 80 Artists,’ in free translation], released in Brazil by Pólen Livros publishing house. She was also the subject of a movie. The documentary ‘BADI,’ directed by Edu Felistoque, was awarded Best Film at The FestCine Maracanaú festival in Ceará. The work has also toured the world at festivals such as the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival.
Amid all these creations, singing remained central to the career of the São Paulo native. Since 2019, the singer has not gone a year without releasing new work. The most recent album was ‘Ilha,’ this year, with eight songs. The singer’s schedule remains full until the end of 2022.
But with this path, is there still something new to come? As surprising is Badi’s specialty, the singer now wants to focus on jobs such as music production in addition to getting her registration as a professional actress. She also wants to dedicate herself to the Badi Art Project. “It is my intention, through the immersions of Badi Art, to start sharing my legacy in life. Badi Art is a school, not a physical space, but in the sense of the different things I’ve done. And in the midst of that, I strongly engage with spirituality. Experiencing this and passing this story forward, I have felt great pleasure. I intend to share these experiences. I think now is the time to contribute to others,” she concluded.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
