Our favourite Romanian power couple, Alex Velea and Antonia, have teamed up on a track alongside Lino Golden and we are loving it. “Sahara” is one banger of a track and has a very desert-themed music video – fully embracing summer. This follows up Alex Velea’s feature on Anda Adam’s “Nicio Regula”, Antonia’s incredible “Hotel Lounge” (which is nominated for CelebMix’s Single of the Summer), and Lino Golden’s “Panamera (Remix)” which features Paigey Cakey.
This marks Alex Velea’s and Antonia’s first official collaboration. They previously teamed up on Antonia’s “Iubirea Mea” however Alex Velea was an uncredited vocalist. Their relationship is very strong, and they currently have two children, Dominic (3) and Akim (18 months); Antonia also has a daughter, Maya (7), from her marriage to Vincenzo Castellano – they’ve been trying to divorce for years, but it looks like it will go through this year.
Alex Velea started his musical career in 2003 when he won Star Factory (the Romanian version of Star Academy / Fame Academy / Operación Triunfo). He has gone on to release two albums and many singles, his hit songs include “Do Not Say It’s Over” and “Yamasha”. As for Antonia, she launched her career in 2010 by featuring on Tom Boxer’s hit “Morena” – before then, she was a model in America. She went on to have her own hit, titled “Marabou”, and her recent singles have been pure fire lately. Then there’s singer-songwriter-producer Lino Golden, who has produced a few of Alex Velea’s songs; now, he’s coming out as a featured singer and has been releasing music since last year. All three of these artists deserve to be international sensations, and we’re sure one day they will be.
The music to this song was created by Denis Roabes (from The Motans), Alexandru Cotoi, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Alexandru Velea, and Mark Stam. As for the lyrics of “Sahara”, those were written by Denis Roabes, Alexandru Velea, and Lino Golden; whilst the producers were Alexandru Cotoi, Sebastian Barac, and Marcel Botezan. The music video was directed by Bogdan Paun, whilst Alexandru Muresan acted as director of photography. The concept was done by NGM Creative and Alexandru Velea. Quite the list of credits, but it was so worth it because this music video is blazing hot.
Watch Alex Velea x Antonia x Lino Golden’s Music Video For “Sahara” Here:
We don’t know about you, but listening to this song certainly give us Sahara Desert vibes, that’s for sure. It’s come right on time for the summer, and the music video sure does relate due to the sand. What’s key is that all three voices come together for an amazing collaboration, Antonia’s sweet vocals blend beautifully with Alex Velea’s fully allowing “Sahara” to sound incredible, and Lino Golden’s part manages to break the song up perfectly. As for the song itself, if our loose translation is correct, Alex Velea is singing about Lady Sahara, a woman who needs to take his soul to the spring as he has a crazy thirst for her as her kiss leaves him dry.
As for the music video itself, Antonia steals the spotlight in every way; she’s stunning and on-point throughout this visual. She knows exactly how to work the camera and it’s hard to remember that Alex Velea and Lino Golden was in this visual, more-so the latter. Alex Velea starts it all off with some shades on and an oversized shirt as he walks inside a house where Antonia is dancing. His iconic scene comes up where he is sitting in a boat on the desert with the oars planted in the sand; as the camera pans out, we see legs protruding out of the sand, giving us some foot-work, or should we say leg-work?
As for Lino Golden; for his part, he is driving a car, while extras surround him. They make some fire on the sand, as he launches into his performance piece as Antonia and Alex Velea can be spotted behind him. He’s also wearing sunglasses and totally nailing his part. But, as we mentioned previously, it’s Antonia that makes this visual. She looks stunning at the start, in that black dress whilst dancing sexily to catch Alex Velea’s attention; she also joins her partner in that boat where she’s wearing a revealing green jumper where she totally commands the camera and the audience at home.
The ending sees Alex Velea in a mainly-teal nylon tracksuit, as he approaches Antonia against a car. The ending sees them nailing out some freestyle choreography that really shows off their personalities – this is what makes them our favourite Romanian power couple.
“Sahara” is available to download and stream right now, through Global Records. We are hoping that Alex Velea and Antonia team up again in the future, and we would love for them to drop another album each. As for Lino Golden, we’re looking forward to seeing how his career progresses.