 Gil is one of the most powerful celebrities in Portuguese speaking Africa, having sold over a million records and creating his own music genre ‘Cabo Swing’ (a combination of traditional Cape Verdean music styles such as Coladeira, Funana and Batuko mixed with zouk, pop and R&B).Gil Semedo was born in Santiago, Cape Verde, and at age six moved to the Netherlands, where he still lives.He got his breakthrough in 1990 when he reached the finals on the Dutch talent TV show Sound Mix Show at age fifteen.