Andrew McUtchen She’s Benin’s only, and therefore, most successful afro-funk diva ever, an enthusiastic disciple of the Voodoo religion, and she’s not half determined to re-write the lyrics to James Brown’s evergreen soul classic It’s a Man’s World. Why? “Because it’s not. Men pretend to rule the world, but we do”. Meet the co-headline act – alongside Senegal’s Cheikh Lo – at this year’s Cape Town One City Festival, the divine and dangerous Angelique Kidjo. You just played a pre-Olympic bash in Sydney, did it rock? Yeah, it was, ummm … great, fancy, and a little bit British. British?
Oh, that means the people are always reserved somehow. They can never let go completely, they always have to be in control of their emotions. That is what I call acting “British”. How is the crowd energy different between, say, a show in Sydney and a show in Cape Town?
Wow, you are asking a question of culture now! The public in Sydney is welcoming, very curious, wide open and really willing to learn more about my music. But in South Africa I belong to the continent, it’s always a kind of homecoming, the way they “get” the music. There’s a pride in the way they receive me. Your lyrics sometimes delve into Voodoo philosophy (a religion that originated in Benin) and on Oremi you covered Jimmi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile – how, if at all, do you practise it in your daily life? In my attitude with other people. I especially don’t judge people according to their colour because in Voodoo religion there is no colour. It is only the colour of our blood links every human being together. You basically have to give somebody a chance to be an asshole before you can presume they’re one. Are there any daily Voodoo rituals that you partake in? No, that’s one thing about the religion that I like very much. You don’t have to pray every day, you don’t have to go to a church, you don’t have to do anything. Your duty is to be happy, and your duty is to respect and love yourself enough to be able to feel that for other people. It’s not about sacrificing animals every day, we do that once a year. It’s something not considered civilised, the sacrificing of the chicken or the goat and then the sharing in its meat and its blood. Some people think this is wild, but that’s only because they don’t connect the packaged food they buy in the supermarket with dead animals. If you eat chicken, or any meat, you cannot say that Voodoo is pagan, just because we kill the animals. I call that hypocrisy!
You use a few Xhosa words in your lyrics, do you speak it fluently? You can’t even say it and you want to know if I speak it fluently! I love that language, I like the sound of it, but I only know a little bit. How many languages do you speak well? Whew! French, English, German, Fon, Mina, Yoruba and I’m learning Portugese. What language is best, or most natural for a love song? Mina or Yoruba. And when you’re angry? It’s Fon, because Fon is the Amazon’s language. It’s very very rhythmic, it’s a language made for commandments. (Kidjo spontaneously bursts into a truly alarming and loud example of irked Fon-ese, which sounds not unlike a Pit Bull terrier speaking French in anger. Interviewer sounds afraid.) Don’t look for trouble at all!
You pretty much invented the African roots/American soul hybrid, since termed “Afro-funk” – do you listen to any of the artists that have followed your lead? Oh no, lately I’m much more into listening to music that comes from Brazil, because I’m going to be recording most of my new album there. But I like the new D’Angelo album a lot. You surprised many people with your cover of Voodoo Chile – anything else up your sleeve?
I have had a mind long ago to do my response to It’s a Man’s World. I haven’t done it yet because there are so many things in my head, and I don’t just cover a song without thinking about it first. It took me seven years to do Hendrix: he was a hero of mine when I was young, it had to be perfect and so will this! Angelique Kidjo will perform at the Three Arts Theatre, Cape Town, on September 22; at the Awesome Africa Festival in Durban (booking through Ticketweb, www.ticketweb.co.za or Tel: 0861E400500); and at the Jazz Festival by the River in Vereeniging on September 24, book through Computicket at www.computicket.com