Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin. Her father is Fon from Ouidah and her mother is Yoruba . She grew up listening to James Brown, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and Santana.
By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe, giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance. She started singing in her school band Les Sphinx and found success as a teenager with her adaptation of Miriam Makeba's "Les Trois Z" which played on national radio. She recorded the album Pretty with the Camerounese producer Ekambi Brilliant and her brother Oscar. It featured the songs Ninive, Gbe Agossi and a tribute to the singer Bella Bellow, one of her role models. The success of the album allowed her to tour all over West Africa. Continuing political conflicts in Benin prevented her from being an independent artist in her own country and led her to relocate to Paris in 1982.
While working various day jobs to pay for her tuition, Angelique studied music at the CIM, a reputable Jazz school in Paris where she met and married musician and producer Jean Hebrail with whom she has composed most of her music. She started out as a backup singer in local bands. In 1985, she became the front singer of the known Euro-African jazz/rock band Jasper van't Hof's Pili Pili. Three Pili Pili studio albums followed: Jakko(1987) Be In Two Minds (1988, produced by Marlon Klein) and Hotel Babo (1990). By the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris and recorded a solo album called Parakou for the Open Jazz Label.
She was then discovered in Paris by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell who signed her in 1991. She recorded four albums for Island until Chris Blackwell's departure from the label. In 2000 she was signed in New York by Columbia Records for which she recorded two albums.
Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Miriam Makeba and Carlos Santana.
She has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002. With UNICEF, she has traveled to many countries in Africa. Reports on her visits can be found on the UNICEF site. Kidjo founded The Batonga Foundation which gives girls a secondary school and higher education so they can take the lead in changing Africa. The foundation is doing this by granting scholarships, building secondary schools, increasing enrollment, improving teaching standards, providing school supplies, supporting mentor programs, exploring alternative education models and advocating for community awareness of the value of education for girls.
She has campaigned for Oxfam at the 2005 Hong Kong WTO meeting, for the their Fair Trade Campaign and travelled with them in North Kenya and at the border of Darfur and Chad with a group of women leaders in 2007 and contributed to the video for the In My Name Campaign with Will I Am from The Black Eyed Peas. She has hosted the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in Alexandria, Egypt on November 26th, 2007 and on November 15th, 2008
Azan Nan Kpé
Angélique Kidjo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
THE SUN CLOTHES THE EARTH WITH ITS RADIANCE
LOOK UP AND YOU'LL SEE THE BIRD FLYING
BUT LIFE IS NOT SAME EVERYWHERE
SOMEWHERE PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING
SOMEONE FORCES THE PEOPLE TOGETHER TO
INDOCRINATE THEM
SOMEONE FORCES THE PEOPLE
TOGETHER TO KILL THEM
A DAY WILL COME
AND NOTHING AND NOBODY WILL STOP THE
PEOPLE RISING UP
IT WILL BE SUCH A SHOCK
THAT THE EARTH WILL TREMBLE.
?
LE JOUR SE LSVE
LE SOLEIL HABILLE LA TERRE
D'UNE LUMISRE ,BLOUISSANTE
LSVE LA T?TE ET TU VERRAS LES OISEAUX VOLER
MAIS VOIS-TU, LA VIE N'EST PAS LA M?ME
PARTOUT
QUELQUE PART DES GENS SOUFFRENT
ON LES RASSEMBLE POUR LES ENDOCTRINER
POUR LES TUER
QUAND LE JOUR VIENDRA O? CELA CESSERA
LE CHOC EN SERA TEL
QUE LA TERRE TREMBLERA
The lyrics of Angélique Kidjo's song Azan Nan Kpé express the idea that life is not always fair or equal for everyone. While some people are enjoying the beauty of the day, others are suffering and being forced together to either be indoctrinated or killed. The song suggests that a day will come when people will rise up against this injustice, and it will be such a shock that the earth will tremble.
The opening lines of the song depict a beautiful morning where the sun clothes the earth with radiance and birds can be seen flying. However, as the lyrics progress, the song paints a more distressing picture of the world, highlighting the suffering of some individuals at the hands of others. The lyrics call for a change in this status quo, where people are forced together to be indoctrinated or killed, and they urge the oppressed to rise up against their oppressors.
Additionally, the song Azan Nan Kpé is sung in Fon, a language spoken in Benin, where Kidjo is from. The song's lyrics also make use of metaphors such as the image of the sun clothing the earth and the idea of a rising up of the people being so powerful that it will make the earth tremble. Overall, the song's message is one of hope and determination for change against all odds.
Line by Line Meaning
THE DAY BEGINS
The start of a new day
THE SUN CLOTHES THE EARTH WITH ITS RADIANCE
The sun fills the world with its light and warmth
LOOK UP AND YOU'LL SEE THE BIRD FLYING
Observe the world around you and witness the freedom of the birds
HUMANS ARE ENJOYING THE DAY
People are enjoying the present moment
BUT LIFE IS NOT SAME EVERYWHERE
Not every person has the same experience in life
SOMEWHERE PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING
Some individuals are in pain and distress
SOMEONE FORCES THE PEOPLE TOGETHER TO
Individuals are being manipulated into gathering together to
INDOCRINATE THEM
Brainwash or alter their beliefs and behavior
SOMEONE FORCES THE PEOPLE
Individuals are being compelled to come together to
TOGETHER TO KILL THEM
Murder or kill other human beings
A DAY WILL COME
A future time is approaching
AND NOTHING AND NOBODY WILL STOP THE
No force or person can prevent the
PEOPLE RISING UP
The populace taking action and rebelling against oppression
IT WILL BE SUCH A SHOCK
The consequences will be unexpected and profound
THAT THE EARTH WILL TREMBLE.
Even the planet will shake with the significance of the event
LE JOUR SE LSVE
The day is breaking
LE SOLEIL HABILLE LA TERRE
The sun dresses the world
D'UNE LUMISRE ,BLOUISSANTE
In a dazzling radiance of light
LSVE LA T?TE ET TU VERRAS LES OISEAUX VOLER
Look up and you'll see the birds fly
MAIS VOIS-TU, LA VIE N'EST PAS LA M?ME
But you see, life is not equal for everyone
PARTOUT
Everywhere
QUELQUE PART DES GENS SOUFFRENT
Some people are in pain and suffering
ON LES RASSEMBLE POUR LES ENDOCTRINER
They are brought together to be indoctrinated
POUR LES TUER
To kill them
QUAND LE JOUR VIENDRA O? CELA CESSERA
When the day comes that this ends
LE CHOC EN SERA TEL
The shock will be so great
QUE LA TERRE TREMBLERA
That the earth will tremble
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANGELIQUE KIDJO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kwame Atoapoma Oteanankanduro
on Summertime
Awesome! Haa, I want the lyrics in the language she sang in.