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
Djin Djin Featuring Alicia Keys & Branford Marsalis
Angélique Kidjo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Scraping for pearls on the roadside
There's a force stronger than nature
Keeps her will alive
This is how she's dying
She's dying to survive
Don't know what she's made of
She cries to the heaven above
There is a stone in my heart
She lives a life, she didn't choose
And it hurts like brand new shoes
Hurts like brand new shoes
There is a woman in Somalia
The sun gives her no mercy
The same sky we lay under
Burns her to the bone
Long as afternoon shadows
It's gonna take her to get home
Each grain carefully wrapped up
Pearls for her little girl
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
She cries to the heaven above
There is a stone in my heart
She lives in a world she didn't choose
And it hurts like brand new shoes
Hurts like brand new shoes
The lyrics to "Djin Djin" by Angélique Kidjo speak to the strength and resilience of a woman living in Somalia who is struggling to survive. Despite the hardship and poverty that she faces, she refuses to give up, and instead relies on her willpower to keep going. The lyrics suggest that this woman is dying to survive - that she is so determined to make it through each day that she is willing to risk everything. There is a sense of admiration and respect for her bravery, and the singer even expresses a desire to be as strong as this woman.
The imagery in the song is powerful and evocative, painting a vivid picture of the woman's struggle. The sun beats down on her relentlessly, the sky a constant reminder of the world she is trying to survive in. And yet, even with all of this weighing her down, she perseveres. There is a sense that she is gathering up the pearls of her life - the moments of joy and triumph - and holding onto them tightly as if they are precious treasures.
Overall, the song is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, particularly in the face of adversity. It reminds us of the incredible strength that lies within us all and encourages us to tap into it in order to find the courage to face our own challenges head-on.
Line by Line Meaning
There is a woman in Somalia
In Somalia, there exists a woman on the roadside scraping for pearls.
Scraping for pearls on the roadside
This woman's occupation involves collecting pearls in a difficult location.
There's a force stronger than nature
Despite the harsh conditions, the woman's will is stronger than any natural force.
Keeps her will alive
This force is what keeps her determination to survive going.
This is how she's dying
Though she puts all of her effort into surviving, she is still struggling to live.
She's dying to survive
The effort she puts in to stay alive takes a toll on her daily life and well-being.
Don't know what she's made of
Despite the obstacles, the woman's strength and resilience is remarkable.
I would like to be that brave
The artist admires her courage and determination, wishing to possess these qualities as well.
She cries to the heaven above
In desperation, the woman makes a plea to a higher power.
There is a stone in my heart
The woman's situation is so dire, that it creates an emotional burden on the artist's heart.
She lives a life, she didn't choose
The woman has no choice but to live a life fraught with difficulty and danger on the roadside.
And it hurts like brand new shoes
The situation brings about a pain that is sharp, new, and difficult to bear.
Hurts like brand new shoes
The painful situation is still fresh and as difficult as ever to endure.
The sun gives her no mercy
The hot sun only contributes to the difficult living conditions of the woman's environment.
The same sky we lay under
Despite living in vastly different circumstances, the singer and the woman share the same sky above them.
Burns her to the bone
The heat from the sun is so strong that it burns the woman intensely.
Long as afternoon shadows
The sun is high and the day is long, creating extended periods of heat and difficulty for the woman's job.
It's gonna take her to get home
The woman's work is so time-consuming that it takes until late in the day for her to finish and return home.
Each grain carefully wrapped up
The woman meticulously packages and protects each pearl she collects.
Pearls for her little girl
The woman's labor is for the sake of her daughter's future, as she seeks to provide for her child.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
In gratitude and praise, the artist utters this exclamation.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALICIA AUGELLO-COOK, ALICIA J AUGELLO-COOK, ANGELIQUE KIDJO, JEAN LOUIS HEBRAIL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kwame Atoapoma Oteanankanduro
on Summertime
Awesome! Haa, I want the lyrics in the language she sang in.