Angélique Kidjo (July 14 1960-) is a singer, actor, songwriter, and activist from Benin. Her music displays her wide collection of influences and musical fusion (including Afropop, jazz, gospel, ect.) as well as her impressive versatility with language. Her songs showcase the 5 languages she is fluent in. Her own training in Beninese traditional music from her childhood often shines through in each song.
Much of her activist life has been through UNICEF where she has traveled to many countries in Africa as a Goodwill Ambassador. She also does significant work in creating safe "girl-centered spaces" for girls and young women in Africa, led by local women, focusing on financial education and empowerment. This work is done mostly through the Batonga Foundation which she helped establish, as well as other charities such as the campaign for “Africa for Women’s Rights."
Her list of awards and her recognitions are staggering and have earned her the moniker “the undisputed Queen of African music.” Not to mention, as recently as 2019 she became the first woman featured on CNN’s list of Africa’s Biggest Music Stars.
While Angélique is a surprisingly awarded name to include as a musician “In the Margins,” her incredible activist work - bringing awareness to gender wage gaps and creating female empowerment spaces to name just two focuses - alongside her continued inclusion and reverence of her traditional Beninese music through her career help her stand apart from so many other singers.
Recently, she even used her Batonga Foundation to educate girls and women in her home country in soap making skills to help combat the spread of COVID-19. The foundation is also raising money to set up hand-washing stations as well as distribute protective face masks around the area. Angélique even released a cover of “Pata Pata,” meaning “touch touch” in Xhosa, with altered lyrics about social distancing.
There are several recordings of her music available online through WCU Libraries such as her album Logozo. There are also a few movies available which include her music as well as her activist work, including Lightning in a Bottle, Part 3: Time for School-Hope and Despair in the Fight for an Education, and Women of Melody. There are even interviews where Kidjo discusses misconceptions of Africa as well as her life experiences such as one by Damascus Kafumbe.
Through her music and activism, Kidjo works to dispel the perceptions of Africa that many Westerners have believed for decades without realizing how detrimental they are.
0 Comments.