Angélique Kidjo, a Beninese musician who has been fusing Pan-African and intercontinental sounds for three decades, has just received another Grammy. The previous year, she won the best global music album award for the fourth time after releasing “Celia”. The award drew a lot of controversy as many thought that there were some albums that could have earned the same spotlight.
Burna Boy’s “African Giant,” an ambitious, thoughtful album that drew hundreds of millions of streams and made him an international sensation, was snubbed by Grammy voters, who chose familiar names and snubbed the year’s world-music phenomenon. Kidjo also made a cameo appearance in “African Giant”.
Kidjo Celebrates the Youthful Musical Generation
During Kidjo’s award ceremony, she was cordial in her speech. She purposefully stated that the new generation of African artists would take people by storm, and that the moment had arrived.
Kidjo, aged 60, backed up her declaration with her new album, “Mother Nature,” which features collaborations with up-and-coming African songwriters and producers such as Nigeria’s Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, and Yemi Alade, as well as Zambian rapper and singer Sampa the Great, Zimbabwean-American songwriter Shungudzo, and Benin-born singer Zeynab. Throughout the record, Kidjo’s guests do everything they can to keep up with her leather-lunged fury.
Kidjo stated via video from Paris, “This youthful generation has the same concern that I’ve had throughout my career, trying to present a really favorable image of my continent, Africa. I also wanted to hear from them about climate change and how it’s affecting their lives, as well as how they plan to address it. We in Africa will bear the brunt of the consequences of climate change, particularly the lives of young people.It will be up to future generations to act rather than ask questions. Because time is running out to ask questions. ”
Snappy programmed Afrobeats, melodic Congolese soukous, rippling Nigerian juju, and a dramatic orchestral chanson are among the tunes in “Mother Nature.” The irresistible beats deliver important messages about environmental preservation, human rights, African solidarity, and the power of music and love.
Kidjo collaborated with Alade, a 32-year-old renowned Nigerian pop musician with whom she had previously worked, on the song “Dignity.” The latter was inspired by the shooting of demonstrators against police brutality in Nigeria. Alade, like Kidjo, has worked with musicians from all over Africa and beyond, including Beyoncé on the soundtrack to “Black Is King”.
During an interview in Lagos, Alade stated that she grew up listening to Angelique’s songs.She couldn’t get enough of Angelique’s Africanness, acknowledging the fact that she always inspired her, and for that reason, she would always look up to her.
“Angélique’s unashamed Africanness, no matter where she goes, is one of the things that drew me to her. In terms of Africa, she is unquestionably our Angélique, our songbird, any time, any day. Seeing her perform what she does and the way she does it, despite the fact that she’s done it for so long, is always inspiring. I see her and am inspired to keep doing what I’m doing. “
The Multilingual Album
Kidjo is famous for her multilingual collaborations, and her recent album has not disappointed. It is primarily English, but also French and West African languages like Fon and Nago, and it fuses new sounds and technologies with Africa’s past.
She sings about how the year she was born, 1960, was a watershed moment in African history, when multiple countries gained independence. She had planned a Carnegie Hall concert in March 2020 to commemorate the occasion, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. Joseph Kabasele’s group L’African Jazz released “Indépendance Cha Cha” in 1960, which she based the music on.
Mr. Eazi’s “Africa, One of a Kind” is a track constructed from a sample of Malian singer Salif Keita’s 1995 song “Africa.” However, Kidjo upped the ante by coaxing Keita, now 71, out of retirement to sing it once more. The video for the song incorporates a gogbahoun dance from Ouidah, Kidjo’s hometown in Benin.
Most importantly, Kidjo has put together the album’s cast of characters through contacts and serendipity. She sings with Sampa in the song “Free & Equal.” In an interview in Botswana, Sampa remarked that Kidjo looked like her, as she was a musician who spoke in her own language and had a great effect outside of the region.
Kidjo didn’t simply ask for voices from composers and rappers. She also gave skeletal tracks to some of the electronic-savvy producers pushing Afrobeats and other African rhythms around the world, such as Kel-P from Nigeria.
MORE:
- Ghanaian Afrobeats Infuse the Global Music Scene with a Distinct Flavor
- The Demise of Jonas Gwangwa, South African Jazz Musician
- Chance The Rapper Features in The First Full-Length Music to Appear in Google’s Homepage
