Angelique Kidjo is a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and has been called the "The undisputed Queen of African Music!" Fluent  in four different languages and singing in five, Kidjo began singing as a young girl in Benin, Africa. She moved to Paris to study jazz and her career took off nearly 30 years ago.

Her musical influences included Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix Conglese rumba, Aretha Franklin, Jazz and Latin styles. She has colaborated with musicians as diverse as Bono, Philip Glass, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock and Branford Marsalis to name a few. One of her well known songs is her version of Voodoo Child.

Angelique Kidjo's latest album Eve, is dedicated to the women of Africa as they have endured horrifying challenges, but inspires them to stay strong and always strive for a better future. Kidjo titled her 10th album Eve for her mother, Yvonne Kidjo and who appears on the song "Bana" which urges people to value people over money.

Kidjo's album coincides with her memoir Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music (http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Spirit-Rising/?isbn=9780062071798) her album features songs in several languages and rhythms of different origins. 

She is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and  has traveled extensively promoting human rights; Kidjo is also the founder of the Batonga Foundation. Currently, she makes Brooklyn her home.

Watch Angelique Kidjo @  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9XvFA47Qvw

Afropop Worldwide (www.afropop.org)is a radio program and online magazine dedicated to music from Africa and the African Diaspora.In 1988, Afropop was launched by NPR as a weekly series. It was the first of its kind and, 20 years later, hosted by one of Africa’s best-loved broadcast personalities, Georges Collinet, the program has expanded its vision to include the music and cultures that encompass the entire African Diaspora.

You can listen to Afropop every Friday at 10pm on KUNM (www.kunm.org).