Legendary musician Angelique Kidjo has traced her root to Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria
She disclosed this while on a live-radio-interview programme on Smooth FM in Lagos state.
Angelique stated that she hails from Iseyin, a town in Oyo state, Nigeria, according to what her mother told her.
Born in Ouidah, Benin Republic, the 61-year-old veteran singer added that she has a lot of relatives in Nigeria even though she doesn’t visit them often.
“My Mum told me that I am from Iseyin, because when my grandfather’s great great great great father came back from Brazil, they found their roots in Iseyin.
“From my mother’s side, we have always been from Nigeria, so we have families in Abeokuta. Ibadan, Lagos, everywhere, I have cousins I haven’t seen a million years that I miss a lot”, she added.
Angelique added that she has a busy schedule that keeps her away from her roots and family, that even her 29-year-old daughter, Naima, had to complain about it.
“I have a hectic life, my own daughter just told me on the phone yesterday ‘okay, when are you coming back home’, and I said not before November… and she said ‘don’t forget you have a daughter though,’” she said.
On her love for the continent of Africa, she established she was not just interested about singing on the beauty of the continent, but also, showing the happiness the people of Africa radiate.
“It’s just that I love to sing. I love to bring Africa to the world. The beauty of Africa, not the music that people are very content about seeing and talking about. Africa is not about that because I grow up in a country that is poor but people were very happy”, she stated.
Angelique further stipulated that she wants the world to see how powerful African women are.
“The women of Africa are the backbone of this continent and they are beautiful. So, I want the world to see that”, she stated.
Angelique won her fourth Grammy Award on Sunday, April 3, 2022, for her Mother Nature Album, beating Nigerian singers Wizkid, Femi Kuti, Made Kuti; Ghana’s Rocky Dawuni and Daniel Ho & Friends, to secure the plaque for the Best Global Music Album award.