As a good week starts in music, let’s continue our musical travel in Benin with Angélique Kidjo’s Batonga.
When I was a child, this song marked me with its video. It was a mix of fear and fascination for its dancers illuminated with colors. I remember looking at them on TV with my eyes between my fingers 🙂
With hindsight, I learned to get rid of my fears and appreciate this song. By trying to understand the lyrics, I discovered a lot of stories about the artist’s life particularly the title ‘Batonga’. This word was invented by her meaning ‘Leave me alone. I can be whoever I want to be’. A word of resistance in a world not allowing women to have access to education. You can find more about her current fights here 😉
One last anecdocte: The album Logozo on which the song is has been producted by Joe Galdo, drummer of Miami Sound Machine (Dr. Beat, Conga, etc.), band I discovered far more lately with Mylo remix Drop the Pressure.
I hope you will enjoy the discovery! See you the next time!