Entertainment · Music · 4 hrs ago
Angelique Kidjo blends African music with global sounds and activism
Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo has won five Grammy Awards for music that brings African rhythms together with jazz, funk, Latin music and R&B.
She grew up in Benin and moved to Paris in 1983, seeking artistic freedom after a new communist government pressured artists to make propaganda music.
Her albums became internationally successful, and she has worked with artists including Carlos Santana and John Legend.
Her songs also address women’s strength and climate concerns, including through the albums “Eve” and “Mother Nature.”
Kidjo has been a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2002 and speaks up for children in conflict and poverty-stricken areas.
She founded the Batonga Foundation in 2006 to support secondary education and job training for African girls.
Her work matters because she challenges narrow views of Africa and calls for African countries to be treated as equal partners.
She continues to create music and take part in international events.
Beninese singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo has built an international career blending African musical traditions with global genres.
She has won five Grammy Awards and received the 2023 Polar Music Prize.
Kidjo went into exile in Paris in 1983 after a communist dictatorship in Benin pressured artists to make propaganda music.
Her albums have carried messages about women’s strength and youth solidarity in the face of climate change.
She has also worked as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2002 and founded the Batonga Foundation in 2006.
- Who
- Angelique Kidjo, a singer-songwriter and activist from Benin.
- What
- She blends African traditional music with jazz, funk, Latin music and R&B, and advocates for human rights.
- When
- She was born in 1960; her career and activism have continued for decades.
- Where
- She was born in Ouidah, Benin, and moved to Paris in 1983.
- Why
- She left Benin seeking artistic freedom after artists were pressured to make music promoting the dictatorship.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Kidjo was born in Ouidah, a port city in Benin.
She moved to Paris in search of artistic freedom.
She began serving as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
She founded the Batonga Foundation to support girls’ secondary education and vocational training in Africa.
She received the Polar Music Prize.
- Grammy Awards
- Five wins
- First Grammy
- 2008, for the album Djin Djin
- Polar Music Prize
- 2023
- UNICEF role
- Goodwill ambassador since 2002
- Batonga Foundation
- Founded in 2006
What people are saying
음악은 우리가 얼마나 단단히 연결되어 있는지 가르쳐주고, 서로 존중하며 함께 나아갈 공통의 기반을 찾아주는 수단
아프리카는 빈곤과 질병의 대륙이 아니라, 재능과 영감이 넘치는 대륙