37e Festival international Nuits d’Afrique will present on July 12 at the MTelus the return of the icon of African pop, Angélique Kidjo. Which today passes for a prophet in the light of the international successes of the members of the new “afrobeats” generation, including Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Sampa the Great or even Mr Eazi, all invited on his latest album. Mother Nature, winner of a Grammy last year. “African artists deserve to be heard on the radios and to play on the biggest stages in the world, I have been saying this since the dawn of time! ” declares the musician delighted in an interview with The duty.
“If my music deeply inspired young artists, it’s because the sounds I offered raised this question: ‘And if we decompartmentalized things a bit?’ “, continues Angélique, joined at home, in Paris, by videoconference.
From his first album (Pretty) released in 1981, the Beninese opened minds by bringing the rhythms of her corner of Africa closer to popular Western music, rewriting the manuals of musical chemistry that young stars of the continent still consult today. The musician also recalls that the immensely popular Nigerian singer Burna Boy, headliner of Osheaga last summer, launched his career in 2011 with the hit “Wombolombo Something” (from Burn Notice: Tha Mixtape) which sampled “Wombo Lombo”, a memorable chorus of Kidjo’s classic, taken from the album Fifa (1996).
” Be yourself “
This global recognition of musical talent from Africa is what she has always hoped for, adds Angélique Kidjo, who, in addition to being a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, is also the unofficial pop ambassador. from Africa. “And what I’ve always said to young artists is, ‘Be yourself.’ In this industry, there are thousands of called, but few chosen. It’s good to have idols, role models, but you, what do you bring? Because there will only be one Beyoncé. This is the message I give them: “Be confident and happy with the music you make.” Somehow, I am happy to have been able to serve as an example of what it takes to move forward. »
His concert in Montreal will obviously revisit his greatest hits, focusing on material from his last three albums: Remain in Light released in 2018, his tribute to Cuban Celia Cruz launched the following year, then the recent Mother Nature, as if to make up for the time lost since the pandemic which caused him to lose loved ones. The father of her impresario husband first, “died of COVID, a week later Manu Dibango, then Tony Allen followed. And the COVID ended up taking my mother too, on June 26 of last year, because she was unhappy not to see her children anymore…”
Red lights
Combine the health crisis that we have gone through with the climate crisis that we are only just beginning to bear the full brunt of, the activist in her sees the red lights flashing on the dashboard of the African continent, “the one that pollutes the least, but the one who will pay the heaviest price”, she denounces. “These are not just words: for example, the rainy season started very early this year in Benin. Raining cats and dogs. It creates ravines, the water stagnates, so malaria will kill even more people. People can no longer cultivate the land. We have no idea of the human cost that this crisis generates – we have been talking about a climate emergency for years, but we are doing nothing! However, nature does not discriminate between poor and rich: everyone goes through it. We should take this crisis as seriously as we did for the pandemic. »
Angélique recently visited the north of her native country, which shares its border with Burkina Faso and Niger. “The north has experienced three years of drought, I don’t know if the country will be able to absorb all the refugees, which endangers the fragile balance that there was, with few resources. With my foundation [Batonga], we continue to provide assistance to young girls: so far, we manage to welcome children to put them in school so that they do not lose their schooling, but at what cost? Even UNICEF is struggling to offer help there, I know that, I’ve seen it. »
Thus, it is as much for her musical work as for charity that Angélique Kidjo was awarded the Polar Music Prize a few weeks ago, awarded annually since 1989 by a Swedish foundation (the prize is nicknamed the “Nobel of Music ”) to musicians, “groups and institutions in recognition of outstanding achievement”. This year, the Beninese accepted the prize alongside Chris Blackwell, founder of the record company Island Records which published five of his albums between 1989 and 1998, as well as the immense Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
The ceremony, as described by the musician, reminds us that even the evils of our time will not have a hold on the contagious enthusiasm that shines through in her work. Prior to the ceremony, Angélique Kidjo was informed of the protocol to be followed in the presence of King Charles XVI Gustave, 77, who presented the prize and his scholarship of one million crowns (approximately $120,000 CA).
“They explained to me: ‘the king, we don’t kiss him, we don’t talk to him!’ So I asked him, “Can I kiss you?” And I kissed him. During the evening, I was sitting next to him and we were talking, so everyone was looking at me: “But who is this woman?” We spoke at length about a lot of things, and it’s very interesting for me to sit next to a king telling me about his initiative, which he pays out of pocket, to teach the young people of his country what is leadership. He told me: “Young people are the leaders of tomorrow, we have to teach them to become one.” »
“I made him dance too! launches Angelique. And when the party was over, he looked at me and said, “Well, are you firing me now?” »
Angélique Kidjo will be in concert at the MTelus on July 12. 37e International Festival Nuits d’Afrique will take place from July 11 to 23.