Legendary musician Angelique Kidjo has disclosed her root is from Nigeria in a new interview.
The multiple Grammy Awards winner said in a radio interview on Smooth FM in Lagos state that she is originally from Iseyin, a town in Oyo State, Nigeria, according to what her mother told her.
Born in Ouidah, Benin Republic, the 61-year-old veteran singer added that she has a lot of relatives in Nigeria even though she doesn’t visit them often.
“My Mum told me that I am from Iseyin, because when my grandfather’s great great great great father came back from Brazil, they found their roots in Iseyin.”
“From my mother’s mother’s side, we have always been from Nigeria, so we have families in Abeokuta. Ibadan, Lagos, everywhere, I have cousins I haven’t seen a million years that I miss a lot.”
Angelique added that she has a busy schedule that her 29-year-old daughter, Naima, complains about. “I have a hectic life, my own daughter just told on the phone yesterday ‘okay, when are you coming back home’, and I said not before November to… and she said ‘don’t forget you have a daughter though,’” she said.
On her love for the continent of Africa, she established she was not only about singing about the beauty of the continent, however, showing the happiness the people of Africa radiate.
“It’s just that I love to sing. I love to bring Africa to the world. The beauty of Africa, not the music that people are very content about seeing and talking about. Africa is not about that because I grow up in a country that is poor but people were very happy.”
Angelique further stipulated that she wants the world to see how powerful African women are. “The women of Africa are the backbone of this continent and they are beautiful. So, I want the world to see that.”
Angelique won her fourth Grammy Award on Sunday, April 3, 2022, beating Nigerian singers Wizkid, Femi Kuti, Made Kuti; Ghana’s Rocky Dawuni; and Daniel Ho & Friends to secure the plaque for the Best Global Music Album award.
Watch her speak below;
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