Angelique Kidjo dedicates Grammy Award to African women

African popular female act, Angelique Kidjo, has dedicated her Grammy Award to African women.

Kidjo, one of the biggest African musicians on the world stage, on Sunday won her second Grammy for world music for ‘Eve’, a musical tribute to the continent’s women. 

According to the Benin Republic born popular act: “This album is dedicated to the African women – to their beauty and resilience.

“African women, you rock!

“For me, music is a weapon of peace and today more than ever, as artistes, we have a role to play in the stability of this world.”

Kidjo spoke as she accepted the award at a ceremony in Los Angeles, the United States of America.

Kidjo, born to a Beninioise father and a Yoruba mother, is primarily in New York, returned to Benin and elsewhere in Africa for ‘Eve’.

She taped the cadences and harmonies of women’s choirs, in the end recording more than 100 women, including her own mother.

The album also featured a diverse array of musical collaborators, including the Kronos string quartet, Luxembourg Philaharmonic and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij of the inde rock Vampire Weekend.

Speaking with news men afterwards, Kidjo said she was inspired to create Eve on a trip to Kenya when she listened to other women and recorded their voices on her smart phone.

She said: “I wanted the African women to see African women not only through the lens of rape and misery, but also from the musical point – their beauty and their resilience.”