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
Bahia
Angélique Kidjo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aburo, ibi kan ni wao, kamura si ifè
Ouidah ni ilé ti bahia
Ti émin mon wa, ri yin lénin o
Bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia
Ilé ti babawa djinan, awa fè lolé
Ogun ti awon agbalagba, shé kalè foun wa o
Logbé wa lo si bahia, gbé gbogbowa kpo
Bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia
Odjo ikadé wa m'bowa o, ti ale rira wa
Ewa ka moura foun odjo yin, ninou oyaya
Oluwa foun wa ni ayé, edjè ka du kpè
Bahia kpa gbogbowa kpo, iréti wa lonan
Aburo, orè ni gbogbowa, ewa ka lolé
Aburo, ibi kan ni wao, kamura si ifè
Ouidah ni ilé ti bahia
Ti émin mon wa, ri yin lénin o
Oré ifé ayé ilé, oré ifé ayé ilé...
Aburo, orè ni gbogbowa, ewa ka lolé
Aburo, ibi kan ni wao, kamura si ifè
Ouidah ni ilé ti bahia
Ti émin mon wa, ri yin lénin o
Oré ifé ayé ilé, oré ifé ayé ilé...
Bahia is so far from Motherland
But the spirit is still alive
One day we'll come together
I want to cross that bridge
It leads from Ouidah to Bahia
The song Bahia by Angélique Kidjo is a celebration of a cultural exchange between two places that are distant yet connected in significant ways. Bahia, Brazil, and Ouidah, Benin, are the places that Kidjo sings about in this song, and through her lyrics, we are given a glimpse of their shared history and the resulting cultural traditions that have been passed down through the generations.
The chorus of the song is a repetition of the word Bahia, which means "bay" in Portuguese, and it is used to refer to the coastal state in Brazil. Kidjo sings of the "Ilé ti bahia," which means "the land of Bahia," and how it is a place where the spirit of Africa is still present. She tells us that Bahia is far from the Motherland, but the spirit that connects the two places is still alive.
The verses of the song talk about the significance of Ouidah, Benin, a place where many people were taken from as slaves and transported to Bahia. Kidjo sings about the cultural exchange that took place as a result of this connection, and how the people of Bahia were able to keep alive certain traditions that they had brought with them from their homeland. The song is a celebration of this connection, and a testament to how even though distance and time may separate us, cultural bonds can still keep us connected.
Line by Line Meaning
Aburo, orè ni gbogbowa, ewa ka lolé
My sibling, the world is in turmoil, and tears are all around
Aburo, ibi kan ni wao, kamura si ifè
My sibling, there's only one place where love abounds
Ouidah ni ilé ti bahia
Ouidah is the home that links us to Bahia
Ti émin mon wa, ri yin lénin o
When our eyes meet, we'll laugh again
Bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia, bahia
Repeated emphasis on the name Bahia
Ilé ti babawa djinan, awa fè lolé
The land of our ancestors, where we feel alive
Bahia ilou ti awa lenin, okpè gan si ilé
Bahia is the dream we're living, it's like going home
Ogun ti awon agbalagba, shé kalè foun wa o
The elders' prayer keeps us standing firm
Logbé wa lo si bahia, gbé gbogbowa kpo
Taking the road to Bahia and carrying our love
Odjo ikadé wa m'bowa o, ti ale rira wa
Come meet us by the river, where freedom flows
Ewa ka moura foun odjo yin, ninou oyaya
Love will speak for you, listen to its rhythm
Oluwa foun wa ni ayé, edjè ka du kpè
The Lord is with us here, let's celebrate in style
Bahia kpa gbogbowa kpo, iréti wa lonan
Bahia brings our love together, our future is bright
Oré ifé ayé ilé, oré ifé ayé ilé...
My sibling, love is the foundation of life
Aburo, orè ni gbogbowa, ewa ka lolé
My sibling, the world is in turmoil, and tears are all around
Aburo, ibi kan ni wao, kamura si ifè
My sibling, there's only one place where love abounds
Ouidah ni ilé ti bahia
Ouidah is the home that links us to Bahia
Ti émin mon wa, ri yin lénin o
When our eyes meet, we'll laugh again
Oré ifé ayé ilé, oré ifé ayé ilé...
My sibling, love is the foundation of life
Contributed by Layla A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kwame Atoapoma Oteanankanduro
on Summertime
Awesome! Haa, I want the lyrics in the language she sang in.