Angélique Kidjo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angélique Kidjo with Sing The Truth at the Rudolstadt Festival 2019
Angélique Kidjo 2017

Angélique Kidjo [ ɑ̃ʒeˈlik kiˈdʒo ] (born July 14, 1960 in Ouidah , Benin ) is a Beninese - French singer-songwriter and choreographer . She received the Grammy Award four times , more often than any other African.

Live and act

Angélique Kidjo was raised by her two grandmothers and her mother. From her mother, who ran a theater in Benin, she learned to sing and dance at an early age. Her father was very interested in music and brought home records from all over the world. He also showed her the first few fingerings on the banjo . Angélique Kidjo's older brothers, who played in a band, also had a great musical influence on her. Around 1982 she emigrated to France because she saw herself threatened with imprisonment by the communist government of the time because she did not sing any popular songs.

In Paris, she studied singing at the Center d'informations musicales (CIM) jazz university and, for a short time, law , because she wanted to stand up for human rights . She soon gave up law studies in order to devote herself fully to music. She became known for world music with a wide variety of musical influences , for example music from her home country Benin, Afro-Pop, R&B , Jazz but also Latin American and Afro-Caribbean music. She sings a considerable part of her songs in the languages Fon and Yoruba spoken in her home country , and she sings in English , French and Spanish .

Kidjo also drew attention to herself through her dance performances , developed from traditional dances , which play an important role in her music videos . She recorded her first album in 1989, which by chance got hold of Chris Blackwell , who released the CD through his record company Island Records .

After several tours with Jasper van't Hofs Pili-Pili and the following three studio albums Jakko (1987), Be in Two Minds (1988), produced by the dissident percussionist Marlon Klein , and Hotel Babo (1990) she won her title in 1994 Agolo (number 57 in Germany) known internationally.

Her album Djin Djin (2007), on which Joss Stone , Alicia Keys and Peter Gabriel appeared as guest vocalists, was produced by Tony Visconti .

Her most formative musical influences include a. Jimi Hendrix and Miriam Makeba .

On July 25, 2002, she was appointed International UNICEF Ambassador. For several years she has been Global Campaigner at the development aid organization Oxfam , where she was particularly active in the Make Trade Fair and Control Arms campaigns .

In 2004 she began the Sing the Truth project with Lizz Wright and Dianne Reeves as a homage to Nina Simone . Dianne Reeves has since been replaced by Cécile McLorin Salvant . Under the artistic direction of drummer Terri Lyne Carrington , the musicians dedicate themselves to the work of committed women such as Odetta , Billie Holiday , Miriam Makeba and others. In 2014 she was involved in the British benefit project Band Aid 30 . On her album Celia (2019) she deals with the music of Celia Cruz .

Angélique Kidjo has lived in New York since the mid-1990s .

Prizes and awards

Kidjo received the Prix ​​Afrique en Creation and Octave RFI in 1992 and the Danish Music Awards for Best Female Singer in 1995 . In the same year she was nominated in the category "Best Music Video" and in 1999 and 2003 in the category "Best World Music Album" for a Grammy . In 1997 she was honored with the Kora All African Music Award as Best African Female Artist , in 2002 with the MOBO Awards . In 2008, 2015, 2016 and 2020 she was awarded Grammys for the best (contemporary) world music album ( Djin Djin , Eve , Sings , Celia ), and she was nominated nine times for the largest American music award.

Furthermore she received the Africa Festival Award 2006 from the Africa Festival Würzburg for her great musical talent . In 2011 she received the Champions of Earth Award . In 2016 she named Amnesty International as an Ambassador of Conscience .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FR FR CH CH
1994 Ayé - CH18 (19 weeks)
CH
1996 Fifa - CH12 (11 weeks)
CH
1998 Oremi - CH37 (9 weeks)
CH
2002 Black Ivory Soul FR102 (4 weeks)
FR 		CH52 (4 weeks)
CH
With a guest appearance by Dave Matthews
2004 Oyaya! FR157 (3 weeks)
FR 		CH50 (4 weeks)
CH
With a guest appearance by Dave Matthews
2007 Djin Djin FR141 (5 weeks)
FR 		CH62 (7 weeks)
CH
With guest appearances by Joss Stone , Alicia Keys and Peter Gabriel, among others
2019 Celia - CH73 (1 week)
CH

More albums

  • 1981: Pretty (released only in Africa)
  • 1990: Parakou
  • 1991: Logozo
  • 2001: Keep On Moving: The Best Of Angélique Kidjo
  • 2003: Global Balalaika Show (as a guest of the Leningrad Cowboys )
  • 2010: Õÿö
  • 2012: Spirit Rising (Live)
  • 2014: Eve
  • 2018: Remain in Light

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE
1994 Agolo
Ayé 		DE57 (12 weeks)
DE

Web links

Commons : Angélique Kidjo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Angélique Kidjo brings true spirit of Africa to the Grammys. africanews.com, January 27, 2020, accessed January 27, 2020
  2. ↑ Program for the Rudolstadt Festival 2019, p. 102
  3. ↑ Angélique Kidjo in the Grammy Database, accessed February 5, 2020
  4. ↑ Africa Festival Award 2013
  5. ↑ a b Chart sources: France / Switzerland / Germany
personal data
SURNAME Kidjo, Angélique
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Benin-French musician, choreographer, singer, composer and song poet
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Ouidah