Hope!! And Other Things.
Welcome back to Worldwide Wednesdays! On Saturday, I went with my husband and two of our friends down to Stanford University (Go Bears!) to see the one, the only, Angélique Kidjo. One of the most well-known and beloved global musicians from Africa, Ms. Kidjo put on a hell of a show!
I was in the front row and videos seemed to be frowned upon at the venue, so I only took a short one, of her covering “Bemba Colora” by the legendary Celia Cruz. It will give you a little taste of the show. This show was a slice of indication of her huge influence, massive energy, and lasting impact on world music.
Angélique Kidjo hails from the small West African nation of Benin. She is quite a character and strikes a diminutive figure, but has so much power in her body and in her voice. She is a true international artist: raised in Benin, educated in France, and has toured literally all over the world and worked and recorded with artists from across the world, too. Her music is so lively, so fun. She sings in several languages and speaks five of them fluently, plus she has her own language in the vein of Cocteau Twins and Sigur Rós.
She has been performing professionally since 1982, so her discography is too huge for me to review in full. Instead, I’m going to write primarily about my favorite Kidjo album, Logozo and a little about her most recent album, HOPE!!, which just came out last Friday.
Logozo (1991)
Logozo is one of my favorite albums. I can listen to it from start to finish, pretty much any time. I’m never not in the mood for it. It is, in its essence, a dance album. With minimal exceptions (“Logozo,” “Malaika,” “Senie”) this album is danceable all the way through—and you could slow-dance to those other three. The instrumentation is unmistakably African, but with so many other influences in there, which just makes it an interesting, fun mix of sounds, rhythms, instruments, and melodies. The number of different percussion instruments alone is… well, it’s a lot. And so impressive!
The album starts off with a bang, with “Batonga.” I love her vocal edit in this song, the “mm-mm-mm-mm” that becomes part of the melody. And look at this artsy, gorgeous video with the video screen a la “Buffalo Stance,” a couple of years earlier:
“Tche Tche” has one of the catchiest choruses ever, even if you don’t understand a word of it, as I don’t. “Tche tche govisa, govisa langa, langa ti langa.” I don’t know if I’m spelling that right because the lyrics mysteriously don’t exist on the internet, but I’m pretty close.
“We We” is simply a blast. It has that late-80s-early-90s jam factor.
“Malaika” is an absolutely beautiful song, a cover of a Swahili song written in 1945, but made famous by legendary South African singer Miriam “Mama Africa” Makeba, that she also covered on her most recent album, HOPE!!.
“Ewa Ka Djo” is my favorite song on this album. With the wailing saxophones, the hollow percussion, an epic drum solo in the middle of the song, and the vocal breakdown at 2:56, the song is just a joy to listen to.
Somewhat to my chagrin, Angélique Kidjo didn’t perform a single song from Logozo in her show on Saturday, but that just goes to show her huge discography and wonderful cover song choices.
HOPE!! (2026)
On to her most recent album, released last week, it shows a more mature release, sung primarily in English, and produced by Pharrell Williams, who also sings along with Quavo on the opening track, “Bando.” The album is unmistakably Pharrell’s, which naturally makes it fun to listen to. After that song, she has diverse guest stars from Nile Rodgers to PJ Morton to the Soweto Gospel Choir. It’s a fun album, if not as thoroughly fantastic as Logozo. But I guarantee you that if you listen to it, you’ll learn some new influences and might find something you really like. “Fall On Me,” “Oyaya,” and “Sunlight to My Soul” are my favorite songs on this album, full of joy, big sounds, and love. If this is the first you’ve heard of her, take the deep dive! You won’t regret it.