That night, while performing in downtown Manhattan at a free show in Battery Park City, Kidjo invited the audience to join her on stage. Her fans, young and old, black and white, ascended en masse, dancing wildly to the song “Tumba” which, quite fittingly, describes people dancing and clapping.
While the platform stage bowed slightly under the excess weight, Kidjo–dressed in a pink sequin blouse, mauve slacks and black ankle boots–leapt and stomped like the high priestess in a shamanic ritual. On tour since last March in support of her seventh album, “Black Ivory Soul” (Columbia Records), Kidjo will stay on the road until November, before taking time off to research and write a new album. The Benin native, 42, was also appointed as a special representative for UNICEF last month and plans to focus her ambassadorship on promoting education in Africa and around the world. NEWSWEEK’s Karen Fragala caught up with Kidjo in New York to talk about tolerance, education and what matters most about her music. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: I have taken a look at your tour schedule, and you have got to be one of the busiest artists in the business. What inspired you to take on the goodwill ambassadorship for UNICEF? Angelique Kidjo: I must do this for my continent, and for me to be able to call myself a human being. If I talk to the people, they will listen to me. I focus on education, because it is the key to everything. If a person is educated, they can vote, they can take responsibility for their decisions and their health. As goodwill ambassador, I am doing the same thing I have been doing with my music–spreading the message that we are all one humankind, and we have to learn to live together and respect each other’s freedom.
On “Black Ivory Soul,” you explore the relationship between the music of your homeland in Benin, in West Africa, and the city of [Salvador de] Bahia in Brazil. What led you in this direction?
When I visited Bahia for the first time, I felt like I was at home in my village in Benin. Both places are Portuguese colonies, and there are so many similarities–in the food, the culture and especially the music. I wanted to record this album as a bridge to the past, to retell the history of the African people, which up until now has been more of an oral tradition than a written one.
Why did you decide to record this album live, unlike your other studio albums?
In Bahia, live music is a part of daily life, as it is in Benin. I wanted to capture this organic connection to rhythm that has survived in both cultures.
You have been known to sing in several different languages, such as Fon, Yoruba, French, Portuguese and English. What inspires you to record a song in one language as opposed to another?
I have no idea! I have never asked myself that question. I’ve never even thought about it. The song comes with a language when I write it, and who am I to change what it should be?
Do you think that music can communicate even to those who don’t speak the language of the lyrics?
Every day I have that experience. I learn through the songs. Music goes beyond language and communicates something that is common to all people. If you limit yourself to what your mind can understand, you’ll miss out on a lot.
You have described the song “Refavela” [sung in Fon] as a call to redesign the favelas [the slums of Brazil]. Can you elaborate on this?
The concept for this song is from [Brazilian singer-composer] Gilberto Gil, who has sung a lot about the poverty in Brazil. We have poor people in my country, too, but you would never see a child 6 years’ old living on the street and sniffing glue while his parents are out of their minds on drugs. This planet is rich enough for everyone to have what they need, and the message of the song is that if we allow the favelas to exist, then we can’t complain when the poor people come to our homes to rob us, because we helped put them there.
How did the collaboration with Dave Matthews on the song “Iwoya” come about?
I did a tour with him, and I was working on the album at the same time. I told him about the song, and he liked the concept, which is based on a Yoruba proverb. I found that Dave and his whole band have true respect for artists, and it was a wonderful experience being on the road with them. Sometimes these big tours with very famous acts don’t turn out as well.
