Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Angelique Kidjo: the diva from Benin could win a record sixth Grammy Award

01/02/2023

Angelique Kidjo: the diva from Benin could win a record sixth Grammy AwardKidjo's fame continues to grow globally, particularly during Grammy season, she's been nominated for the Grammy Awards in the US 14 times

by The Conversation

01-02-2023 16:55

in Music

Angelique Kidjo: the diva from Benin could win a record sixth Grammy Award

Image via instagrame @angeliquekidjo

Angelique Kidjo, the energetic singer-songwriter and activist from the Republic of Benin, represents a rare African phenomenon.

--

In many respects, she belongs to the illustrious musical lineage of Mama Africas - the likes of South Africa's Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Cape Verde's Cesaria Evora and Mali's Oumou Sangare.

These powerful maternal personages are distinctive for their regal bearing, a grand sense of responsibility in sharing Africa's cultural heritage, and protecting the dignity of the African woman. They may not always articulate this political and aesthetic worldview in so many words, but their carriage says it all.

Posing with her 2020 Grammy. Amanda Edwards/Getty Images Mama Africas could be defined by the strength of their voices, their rich and colourful cultural pedigree and their duty to preserve what has been handed over to them through centuries of toil, conflict and creative resilience.

--

Kidjo's fame continues to grow globally, particularly during Grammy season. Nominated for the Grammy Awards in the US 14 times since 1995, she lifted her first in 2008 and went on to win Best World Music Album in 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2022 (when the title changed to Best Global Music Album).

Her five Grammys match the record of South Africa's isiZulu a capella outfit Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Kidjo is up for more wins in 2023 for Best Global Music Album and also for Best Song Written for Visual Media for the movie The Woman King. Her album entry, a collaboration with French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, is called Queen of Sheba.

--

AGOLO The 62-year-old West African pop star has jammed with music stars ranging from Quincy Jones and Buddy Guy to Mavis Staples and Chaka Khan. Her debut album Parakou was released in 1990, but it took her hit song Agolo for her to burst into global reckoning and galvanise the world's dance floors in 1994.

In the Yoruba language agolo refers to the metaphysical significance of time, a cyclical phenomenon conjoining life with death - life being a gift that must be cherished and lived wisely. Agolo was a fervent wail of catharsis from the womb of Africa, bearing swathes of history, suffering and defiance. It shook souls and moved feet through its rhythmic sense of elation and release.

In the video there's an androgynous energy about the artist with the closely cropped hair. A suggestion that she's possessed by the indefatigable endurance of a real queen like Nzinga of Angola, Yaa Asantewaa of the old Gold Coast or Amina of the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau. They had to lead men to war, often with great success.

However Kidjo, like her fellow Mama Africas, does not bear arms in inscribing herself on the global canvas of cultural production, which is as competitive as any other. She is from the territory of the controversial Agoodjies, the Amazons of Dahomey. During the colonial era, they served as the king's private army and dominated the slave trade in and around today's Benin. The Hollywood movie The Woman King has revived attention on the questions of their feminine power and gender-blending energies.

It is a fallacy to view femininity in a simplistic or one dimensional manner. It is both multiple and diverse and Kidjo seems to have been nurtured on this fundamental philosophy.

ALSO READ: Grammys 2023: Here's who will attend/ skip music's biggest night

FIERCENESS A multi-genre artist, Kidjo sings traditional Benin folk songs, deep blues, fervid West African R&B, hard rock and urban club bangers in multiple languages with Fon, Yoruba, French and English being her main modes of expression.

In person, Kidjo is spry and compact; she radiates fierceness. At a pre-Grammy performance she once galvanised an entire hall of industry executives and music pundits. This is too sleepy for me, she said, hopping off the stage and walking into the audience, led by her confident voice.

Her singing isn't dreamy or silky like some phony, over-sexualised diva. Rather it acts as a gutsy surge of affirmation towards visibility, justice and freedom.

She is outspoken in her belief that all music comes from Africa, much carried with it by enslaved people. That Africa represents the heart of the blues and the many musical forms it influenced and that her descendants have distributed it across the world, carrying with it joy, enlightenment and upliftment.

SPIRITUALITY Some of Kidjo's songs celebrate ancient forms of African spirituality. Benin is renowned for being an epicentre of spirituality, particularly through Vodun, a polytheistic belief that serves multiple deities and emphasises the links and continuities between woman and man, nature and divinity, life and death, the ancestors and the living.

In this, Kidjo's aesthetic project seems undeniably political, almost in the same way that Makeba's was. But, rather than directly targeting established political institutions such as the United Nations to effect social change, as Makeba did, Kidjo aims for a revolution of the mind and spirit. It is the sort of approach to be expected from one born and bred in the land of the loas, a pantheon of deities comprising Legba, god of the crossroads, among others.

ALSO READ: New music loading': Gqom queen Babes Wodumo back in studio

Kidjo is also knowledgeable on the Ifa spirituality of the Yoruba people, to whom her mother belongs - some of whom live in Benin.

When one thinks of Ki
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/angelique-kidjo-diva-from-benin-c...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

22/05/2026

Germanys Magenta TV Selects DMC to Provide FIFA World Cup Technical Support for Studios in Munich, New York City

Germany's Magenta TV, which will have 44 exclusive FIFA World Cup match broa...

22/05/2026

DAZN Grabs IFAF Flag Football Global Rights

DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, has acquired global broadcast rights to the International Federation of American Football's ( I...

22/05/2026

ATHLOS 2026 Season Set for October Debut in London; Aurora Media Worldwide Named Host Broadcast Partner

ATHLOS, the all-women's professional track and field league, has announced i...

22/05/2026

NATAS to Stream Sports, News, and Documentary Emmy Awards Live on YouTube

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today announced that the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards and the 47th Annual News & Documentary Emmy A...

22/05/2026

Wooden Camera Rolls Out New Blackmagic URSA Accessories

Wooden Camera today announced the release of new accessories for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive. The new lineup includes a redesigned Top Plate and Side Rai...

22/05/2026

YES Network, OTT Advisors Extend Streaming Partnership for Sixth Season

YES Network and OTT Advisors have announced a sixth consecutive season of their streaming partnership, continuing their collaboration on the Gotham app. OTT Adv...

22/05/2026

NESN Monster Week' Returns With Full Red Sox Broadcast From Atop Green Monster

NESN, New England's premier sports network, will again turn its camera to Fe...

22/05/2026

Dale Pro Audio RF Over Fiber Webinar Set for May 28

Dale Pro Audio is hosting an RF over Fiber Livestream Webinar on May 28 from 1-2:30 pm EST. With major sporting events and large-scale productions putting incre...

22/05/2026

Audio-Technica Appoints Humrichouser, Schanz to New Roles

Audio-Technica has announced key leadership appointments designed to further strengthen its sales organization and drive continued growth across the Americas. M...

22/05/2026

Scott Coker Launches Global MMA League With $60 Million in Backing

After nearly four decades shaping the global combat sports landscape, Scott Coker has announced a powerful return as he looks to build a new international mixed...

22/05/2026

Skyline Launches xOps Vanguard Runway for Autonomous Era

Skyline Communications, the company behind the globally deployed DataMiner xOps platform, today announced the launch of xOps Vanguard Runway, a strategic accele...

22/05/2026

The American Rodeo Takes Over Globe Life Field for Championship Weekend

For the fully onsite production, 30 cameras - including a SkyCam and Megalodon - will capture the action in Texas One of the world's biggest rodeo producti...

22/05/2026

Argentinas Torneos Taps Imagine Versio for Playout Operations Upgrade

Leading Argentina-based sports media company Torneos y Competencias S.A. has modernized its playout operations, implementing a fully redundant, multichannel env...

22/05/2026

Owl AI and Major League Pickleball Go Live with First-Ever AI Officiating System Powered by Broadcast Cameras and the Cloud

As the 2026 Major League Pickleball season kicks off this weekend in Dallas, it ...

22/05/2026

Shure, Edge Sound Research Look to Innovate via Partnership

Shure has become a minority investor in Edge Sound Research, a start-up company that is developing new experiential audio technologies that redefine how many au...

22/05/2026

SVG Rewind: MLBs UmpCam AR System Puts Fans Inside the Strike Zone Like Never Before

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

22/05/2026

Jelly Roll Offers Up 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff Theme Song for NHL, Amazon Music

The National Hockey League (NHL) and Amazon Music announced that GRAMMY Award-winning superstar Jelly Roll will provide the official theme song of the 2026 Stan...

22/05/2026

David Pogue, Andy Beach Keynotes Highlight Silicon Valley Video Summer Camp, July 14 at De Anza College

David Pogue will keynote SVV Summer Camp and discuss Apple at 50: How the World...

22/05/2026

FOX Sports, IMS Productions Scale Up Indy 500 Production in Year Two With New In-Car Cameras, AR Graphics, and Cinematic Sets

In its second year as rightsholder, FOX Sports goes bigger across the board for ...

22/05/2026

FOX Sports' Indy 500 Director Mitch Riggin on the Tech and Storytelling for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing

Heading into FOX Sports' second Indianapolis 500, Lead Director Mitch Riggin...

22/05/2026

How Spotify's Rebuilt Ad Platform Is Delivering New Value for Brands

At our 2026 Investor Day, we shared an inside look at the rebuild of our advertising business. This pivot to our own purpose-built platform is already driving s...

22/05/2026

Spotify Levels Up Our Podcast Experience With New Features for Fans and Creators

Podcasting on Spotify continues to grow, and so do the ways listeners engage with it. At Investor Day 2026, we shared how we're building the next chapter of...

22/05/2026

CEDAR Audio introduce Icons Bundles

Limited-time collections now available Restoration experts CEDAR Audio have recently launched a new line of Icons plug-ins that make their powerful processo...

22/05/2026

Boss expand PS-1 Plugout Pedal

Three new classics join Model Pass line-up Boss' PX-1 Plugout Pedal offers an innovative approach to guitar pedals, providing users with a hardware stom...

22/05/2026

SGL Carbon commissions photovoltaic system and lays the foundation for a new nitrogen plant at its Meitingen site

At its Meitingen site, SGL Carbon has implemented two key projects to further de...

22/05/2026

Statement regarding 2026 National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award for the late Rhoda Roberts AO

Statement regarding 2026 National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award for the late...

22/05/2026

Polsat Reclaims Second Place and ByteDance Enters Top 10 as Polish Viewing Moves Beyond the Living Room in April

Latest data reveals steady distributor rankings, a seasonal shift toward digital...

22/05/2026

FCC Votes to Update Disaster Information Reporting System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

Amagi delivers 30 per cent revenue growth in FY26 Adjuste...

Amagi Media Labs Limited (NSE: AMAGI, BSE: 544679), a cloud-native SaaS platform providing AI-enabled solutions to global media and entertainment companies, tod...

22/05/2026

Annima Post Relies on Cintel to Revive Classic Mexican Films

An nima Post Relies on Cintel to Revive Classic Mexican Films Brie Clayton May 22, 2026 0 Comments Film scanner and DaVinci Resolve Studio help manage...

22/05/2026

Boris FX Sapphire Adds Optical Beauty and Hypnotic Textures

Boris FX Sapphire Adds Optical Beauty and Hypnotic Textures Jessie Electa Petrov May 22, 2026 0 Comments The 2026.5 release introduces advanced defocu...

22/05/2026

Deployment Preserves Trusted Workflows While Enabling a P...

Deployment Preserves Trusted Workflows While Enabling a Path to UHD and SMPTE ST 2110 Leading Argentina-based sports media company Torneos y Competencias S.A....

22/05/2026

Study: AI Labeling Does Not Hurt Video Ad Performance

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

NAB Show Makes 200+ Sessions Available on Demand

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

Torneos Upgrades Multichannel Playout with Imagine's Versio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

Ex-Husband, Current Husband, One Wild Rescue: Korean Action Comedy Husbands in Action' Premieres June 19

Back to All News Ex-Husband, Current Husband, One Wild Rescue: Korean Action Co...

22/05/2026

Beta Da Silva hosts live performances from 20 new Irish artists in Sessions from Oblivion on 2FM's New Music Show

Catch the latest in Irish music live from venues such as Whelan's, R is n Du...

21/05/2026

CBS Sports Expands WNBA Tip-Off Show To Cover Half of 20-Game, Regular-Season Package

Game Creek Video Columbia and Celtic, NEP Supershooter 8 will house onsite produ...

21/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Christina Zelin, Rowan University

Freshly graduated, this upstart producer, director, and camera operator is already working as an AP on videoboard shows for the Philadelphia Phillies In the li...

21/05/2026

Media Links Announces Channel Partnership with Clearcast Asia Ahead of BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced a channel partnership with Clearcast Asia, a broadcast...

21/05/2026

SiriusXM and NASCAR Announce Multi-Year Broadcasting Agreement Renewal

SiriusXM and NASCAR have announced a multi-year renewal of their broadcasting agreement. SiriusXM will continue to carry live broadcasts of every NASCAR Cup Ser...

21/05/2026

Audio-Technica Hosts High-Density Wireless Microphone Demo at Technica House in New York City

Audio-Technica held a demonstration event at its Technica House location in New ...

21/05/2026

RTL Deutschland Selects Ateme Frame-Rate Conversion Technology for Live Event Workflows

Ateme has announced that RTL Deutschland has selected Ateme's software-based...

21/05/2026

BCC Live Deploys LiveU LU900Q for Record-Breaking IRONMAN Texas Broadcast

LiveU has announced that BCC Live deployed the LU900Q intelligent production unit for the first time during the 2026 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North Americ...

21/05/2026

Mark Aitken to Receive 2026 ATSC Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal

ATSC has announced that Mark Aitken, President of ONE Media and Senior VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will receive the 2026 Mark Richer ...

21/05/2026

BBright Outlines MXL Integration Strategy for Software-Defined Broadcast Workflows

BBright has published a technical analysis of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), de...