Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo
Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, known as Angélique Kidjo, is a Beninese-born American Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has included Kidjo in its list of the African continent's 50 most iconic figures. The Guardian has listed her as one of its Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World and Kidjo is the first woman to...
ProfessionSoul Singer
Date of Birth14 July 1960
continent
This continent - that's where my inspiration comes from.
african blues bringing combining culture easier jazz music rhythm technology tools western
I'm an African bringing my culture to the Western world. But I use technology and rhythm and blues and jazz and rock. I make it easier for you by combining your tools with mine. But then some will say the music is not pure.
attitude cannot cattle children issue preserve
It is an issue of attitude change. You cannot preserve cattle and let your children die.
crisis horn millions people
But this isn't just about Kenya. This crisis is devastating the whole of the Horn of Africa. Millions of people are still suffering.
behave lives losing stop
We have to stop the vulnerability of losing lives so stupidly. We have the capacity. We have the brains, yet we behave like new-born kids.
heart brain weapons
Your brain is your greatest weapon. Connect it to your heart, and you can go anywhere.
country ability educated
It is proven that when women are educated, the ability of the country goes up immediately.
people ifs
You cannot transform the society of people if the people are not part of the change.
color long challenges
Your color doesn't define your brain nor your soul. You can stand next to any human being and challenge that person as long as you use your brain.
color skins care
I don't care about skin the color, everybody is a human being. Beneath every skin color, you bleed red. That's just the bottom line of the truth.
differences together legacy
My legacy is not only about legacy, it's about how we as a human family learn to live together within our difference.
color skins world
You cannot be defined by your skin color, where you come from. The world is yours, embrace it.
rocks dna rock-and-roll
The music of the westerner comes from Africa, whether they like it or not. The majority of the instruments of the music, of the pop music, rock and roll, or R&B, hip hop, whatever it is, their roots trace back to Africa. So if you are black, white, yellow, or red, whatever you do, it doesn't matter, because your DNA is back in Africa.
people challenges attention
The richness of Africa, culturally, is vast. That's the challenge that we have to face, because most of the time, people in the western world, their attention span is really narrow.