By Babalola Seyi
Angelique Kidjo’s global impact, Pan-Africanism, and feeling of intergenerational collaboration have captivated music fans. She makes no apologies for her preference for collaborating with younger artiste. And she isn’t fooled into thinking that the future belongs to them.
Still, what is it about this artiste that enabled her to win her fifth Grammy? What makes this Beninese singer time magazine’s “Africa’s Premier Diva” so special? What makes this woman tick, who sang during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games? Why was she included to Time’s list of the 100 most important people in the world in 2021?
The solution is in her strong feeling of belonging, her pan-Africanism, and her contagious faith in youth. When she won her fourth Grammy in the Best Globe Music Album category at the 62nd Grammy Awards event on January 26, 2020, she declared that the moment had come for the next generation of African artiste to take the world by storm. She then dedicated the award to her fellow nominee, Burna Boy.
Four years ago on this stage, I was telling you that the new generation of artiste coming from Africa is going to take you by storm and the time has come, she said. This is for Burna Boy. Burna Boy is among these young artiste that come from Africa that are changing the way our continent is perceived and the way African music has been the bedrock for every music.
Two years later, the new generation of African artiste has dominated the world, exactly as she predicted. Not only has Burna Boy won a Grammy in the same category for his album, African Giant, Kidjo has just won her fifth Grammy for Mother Nature, a 13-track album with collaborations from Nigerians Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, and Yemi Alade, as well as Zambian rapper and singer Sampa the Great, Zimbabwean-American songwriter Shungudzo, and Beninouse singer Zeynab.
What about Mother Nature? Mother Nature, you are correct. Kidjo described the album as a love letter to Mother Earth, citing the incalculable harm mankind has inflicted on her. One cannot, certainly, throw her forceful, cautionary message to the world under the rug.
Oh, yeah! Where would we be if there was no nature? Where would you be sitting? Would you have a home or a roof over your head? Would you be able to breathe? For me, Mother Nature is a breathing being, like us, and we are just stifling her. If I cant breathe, you cant breathe, and she cannot breathe.
It became obvious to me that, in order for our cultures to survive, our nature has to survive. In order for the next generation to have a say, and to be the agents of change that they want to be, we need to come together and really write this love letter to Mother Earth. Thats the starting point for me, period, she said.
Kidjo has demonstrated her appreciation for the richness of African culture and communality by collaborating with younger artiste to create Mother Nature. Mother Nature is a strong love song not just for the Earth, but also for the next generation of African artiste, with whom she collaborated on the award-winning album.
It was obvious to ask myself the question: What kind of world are we going to leave to our children and beyond? she told Apple Music.
And it became more and more relevant as I started seeing the proof of climate change let me start writing a love letter to Mother Earth, Mother Nature. This album is also about having a conversation with the younger generations- the transmission of culture as our grandparents have done, she noted.
BEATS acknowledges background information from the internet.
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