The West-African singer Angélique Kidjo is one of the most inspiring and progressive performers in World music. With incredible passion and drive, she incorporates her great love for her homeland Benin into her music, even though there is much room for improvement in her country - she was forced to leave in order to pursue her musical career which the communist regime had brought to a standstill. Her music was considered too free and outspoken in Benin. In 1980 she moved to Paris and now she's been living in New York for some time. Benin is never far away though. Kidjo prefers to sing in her native language, Yoruba, as you can hear on her successful trilogy which she began in 1998 with the album Oremi on which she blends traditional music from Benin with other African styles. On Black Ivory Soul the focus is on the ties between her country and Brazil. And on the third album Oyaya she pays homage once again to the African Diaspora. Kidjo won her fourth Grammy Award for her most recent CD Djin Djin, on which she is joined by numerous well-known artists including Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel and Carlos Santana.
