We all know that Angelique has a lot to say, and 1998 was no exception. 1998 was the year of Oremi and a smashing tour. 1998 was also the year I "discovered" Angelique Kidjo; I guess you could call it my "angelic awakening." Angelique can make you laugh and think, and she can teach you, too. Just look: |
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I'm not
an angel; that's why I told my father, 'you should have given me
something else.' |
What really connects me to Hendrix and Santana is the way they use the guitar as an extension of internal fire, the continuation of soul in the fingers. |
I like
to come to L.A. because it's sunny here. You guys are lucky. I know
you have earthquakes and all that kind of stuff, but nothing can
beat the sun -- boy! Every time I come here, I'm like, "Wooh,
that smells like Benin here." Wooh! You have the sea, you have
the sun, what else you want? OK. You have the music, you have the
food, and you have me. OK. Whenever you want me, I will be here. |
I wanted to make three records about the black diaspora. This one's about R&B. I grew up in Bénin, listening to people like Otis Redding and James Brown, so it's something I've always been into. Next I want to make a record in Brazil and then something in Cuba, Haiti and New Orleans - because you get a lot of voodoo there and voodoo came from Bénin. |
Music is the only thing that can bring us together. |
I would say that my first influences of music -- and in fact, my first knowledge of black people living outside of Africa -- came from the popular music of America. |
Working
with me is a piece of cake, you know that. |
'Yaki Yaki' is a song that I wrote thinking back on the way that people laugh when they see someone fail. I don't like people that are pretentious, people who think that because they have money they have power - they are like a piece of dust to the real world, the natural world. |
When you
are an artist, the people wait -- are waiting for you to talk about
your art, and my art is linked with people, and if people are suffering,
I'm not happy. |
He can't even take a tan. People ask me, 'How can you marry such a white man?' I say 'He's just a man. I don't see any color. |
Now you
know why I married a bass player. I like the bass line! |
In America,
you have all the power of every single individual, here in this
country. And at the same time, you see that the power is divided.
The blacks stay with the black people, and the whites stay with
the white. Why don't people come together? It's something I can't
understand. |
Do you think it would be better if we all looked the same? Just one color everywhere would be so boring. |
Voodoo deals with relationships and nature, and teaches us that we are part of nature - even though we think we are in the position of dominating nature. The colonists labeled Voodoo as bad because they wanted control; they did not realize that it was Voodoo that was saving their lives, because the religion is about people living in a community - we believe that it is wrong to kill for pleasure. |
The Babalao
is a priest and at the same time he is a person that is really the
link between the families. And in that song, particularly I'm talking
about his role in terms of bringing people together. Babalao is
the person that you go to talk to when something really bothers
you or when something really heavy happens to you and you don't
know how to put it in words or you don't know how to go to your
parents and explain to them that you're in a situation where you
don't know how to get out of it. |
When I moved to France in 1983, I had a Beninois friend who was born in France that was a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix. I was so excited to listen to the 'Little Wings Of Steel', I was like, 'Whaoo, this is amazing.' I always thought it was Sting who wrote it, so he brought me to rediscover Jimi Hendrix. And from the moment he put on 'Voodoo Child', it just stuck. And I decided to make a cover from that time, but I had to wait seven years to be able to do my 'Voodoo Child'. |
It's unfortunate that people who are different for one reason or another choose to not live together. It's strange that most people have to live in a community with people who have the same color skin. This has been an issue that's been on my mind for a long time. |
Love is
not a jail, and you cannot use love as an argument to beat up a
woman; if you love somebody, you have to send that person free.
Love is about freedom of respect of the freedom of each partner.
And, if you're lucky to find somebody in your lifetime that loves
you for who you are and what you are, you should cherish that love
and work on it. |
I don't feel concerned, because my parents taught me to respect every style, every culture and language. Music is a language that everyone has to learn and understand. Those who might not understand will feel it. |
And music
is the only thing, I definitely believe that, that can bring us
together and gonna be the weapon of the 21st century. And I want
to thank you all for coming tonight, thanks a lot. Coming from different
backgrounds and not understanding most of the songs I have been
singing all night long, but just sharing the magic and the love
of music with me, I really, really wanna thank you very much. Thanks
a lot. |
Loloye
is a love song, and in that song I'm saying that when you love a
man or a woman, send that person free. Love is not a jail, and love
is not something you can find and buy in a market. And if you're
lucky to find someone that loves you, cherish that love. Love sometimes
is not enough for a couple or a friendship to last; every single
person in that relationship has to work a lot for that relationship
to last for life. |
.
. . Spirituality is how you live your daily life and how your relationship
with other people affects your inner peace. |
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