Gil Semedo is one of the most successful artists in Portuguese speaking Africa, having sold over a million records and having created his own music genre Caboswing (a combination of traditional Cape Verdean music styles such as Coladeira, Funana and Batuco mixed with zouk, pop and R&B). He rose to prominence in 1991 following the release of "Menina", the first single from his debut album bearing the same name. In total, Gil has released 12 albums.