Angelique Kidjo said her mother, who also hails from Nigeria told her that her ancestral home is in Iseyin in Oyo State, Nigeria
By Kehinde Okeowo
Ace musician and multiple Grammy Awards winner, Angelique Kidjo has made a shocking revelation, disclosing that she is originally from Iseyin in Oyo State, Nigeria.
The veteran singer made this known in a recent interview with Smooth FM in Lagos, where she also claimed her mother, who is also from Nigeria told her about it.
According to withinnigeria.com, the four-time Grammy Awards winner also said she has a lot of family members in Abeokuta, Ibadan, and Lagos State that she has not seen in a long time.
“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 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.” Angelique Kidjo said.
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Angelique Kidjo went on to say her busy schedule takes her away from her family a lot and that her 29-year-old daughter, Naima, recently complained about it.
She added, “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,’”
The 61-year-old said the story that Africans are happy people despite being poor needed to be told through her music
She also argued that it was also necessary to tell the story that the beautiful women in Africa are the mainstay of the continent to the world.
“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.
“The women of Africa are the backbone of this continent and they are beautiful. So, I want the world to see that.” she narrated.
Angelique Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin Republic in 1961, and she has now won the Grammy Awards four times, beating Nigerian singers Wizkid, Femi Kuti, Made Kuti; Ghana’s Rocky Dawuni; and Daniel Ho & Friends to secure the latest one on Sunday, April 3, 2022,