Angélique Kidjo

GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and activist Angélique Kidjo joins Norah to talk about her roots in Benin, her remarkable career, her humanitarian work, and her new album.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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  Hey, I'm Niall Rogers. This fall, I'll be driving across the country, meeting some of today's coolest and most fascinating artists. We'll explore the stories before the moments that changed everything. Because every musician remembers the moment where it all began. Experience Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on the iHeart Radio app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:07Speaker 00

  This episode is also available as video on YouTube. You can visit Norah Jones' channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there. Hi, I'm Norah Jones, and today I'm playing along with Angelique Kidjo.

• 1:20Speaker 03

  I'm just playing along with you.

• 1:26Speaker 03

  I'm just playing along with you.

• 1:32Speaker 00

  Hi, I'm Nora, and this is Sarah Oda.

• 1:35Speaker 04

  Welcome to the show. Today, we have Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, performer, and activist, Angelique Kidjo. Over her career, she's collaborated with artists including Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, John Legend, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, many others. And her latest album, Hope, came out in 2026 and features guest artists like Pharrell Williams, Charli Wilson, and Niall Rogers. She's just like one of these performers who brings joy to the stage. I feel like whatever her performance, recording, she's just a joyful person.

• 2:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's got such good infectious energy. It's just so fun to just hang out and watch her go, you know?

• 2:20Speaker 04

  And she's, her music is sort of genuinely joyful as well.

• 2:25Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:26Speaker 04

  She's also the founder of the Batanga Foundation, which supports education, leadership, economic opportunities for girls and young women in Africa. So you're gonna hear about that. You're gonna hear about her background. You're gonna hear about her family life and some of the big personalities in her family, which maybe contributes to who she is.

• 2:42Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 2:43Speaker 04

  Stay tuned, it's a good one.

• 2:45Speaker 00

  Please enjoy Angelique Kidjo.

• 3:01Speaker 00

  So you can't live without the stage?

• 3:03Speaker 05

  No.

• 3:03Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:04Speaker 05

  I was born on singing. And I was on stage when I was six.

• 3:11Speaker 00

  Really?

• 3:12Speaker 05

  My mom threw me on that stage because she has the largest theater troupe that ever existed today in West Africa.

• 3:19Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 3:19Speaker 05

  So I would spend my time when they are rehearsing, like knowing all the lines, all the songs. And I would say, no, that's not right. No, that's not right. She's like, shh, let us work here. And I would tell her, why can't I play with the little girl in your, in your play? I wanna be that little girl. I know the song, I can sing the song. And the day the little girl couldn't sing, I was mingling with the costume and I was sniffing. And me, I was like, I wanna know the nitty-gritty of everything. And then I felt somebody grabbing my ankle and dragging me from the, under the costume. And go, you're going on stage? I said, no, I'm not. She put the costume on me. And I was, I was in total panic.

• 4:02Speaker 05

  But I walked in on the stage and I have a spotlight right on my face. I couldn't see anything. So I said, oh, the public is not here. I'm gonna do as I do. I'm gonna pretend I am the star on the stage. And I sang, oh, yeah, they say, oh, and I started singing. The people there, what? What is this? I finished singing, here I am. Walk out and then standing ovation. And my mom said, you gotta go back. I said, hell no. I ain't going back. I didn't know people were there. That's why.

• 4:37Speaker 00

  So when they started clapping, they scared you?

• 4:39Speaker 05

  It scared the heck out of me. I'm like, I've been stupid on stage, doing all my, because I've been singing and doing all this clowny stuff and making everybody laugh. And I just make a fool out of myself, right? And mom said, go back. They're clapping for you. I said, no, mom, I can't go back. And the next morning I woke up, I went to my mom. I say, it feels so good, right? Look at me, I say, you telling me now? What am I gonna do about it? So that's how I start.

• 5:09Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 5:10Speaker 05

  And I never stopped.

• 5:11Speaker 00

  You never stopped.

• 5:13Speaker 05

  I sing with my brothers. They have a music group too. My brother, older brother, played the guitar, the organ, fahfisa, whatever, all those stuff. And I was like, wow, what is that drum? I saw a drum kit like that. I said, how many people play on it? And there's only one person. I say, that person have to be crazy. How many arms and legs do you have to play all these drums? And they say, it's only one person. So I have been very intrigued by music since I was a little girl, pretty much. And it keep on growing on me. And when my brother would want me to sing a couple of songs that I know by heart, they're playing a club that is owned by one of my father's friends.

• 5:54Speaker 05

  And no kids allowed because it's a club where there's alcohol. My father would wake me up at midnight. I would put my dress that my mom made for me, and they would snuggle me in from the kitchen. And I finished singing. And I barely see anything. Boom, they grab me in the car. Oh, I go.

• 6:13Speaker 00

  Oh, man.

• 6:14Speaker 05

  It was fun.

• 6:14Speaker 00

  That is fun.

• 6:15Speaker 05

  That's how, that's what for me, music is discovering things and never stop. I mean, trying to tap into everything out there. So that's what I like about music.

• 6:26Speaker 00

  That's beautiful. I get the sense that you're always discovering things because I feel like every album you've put out is a whole other world. And, you know, I know as somebody who makes music, every album has its own personality. And sometimes you have a theme for an album. But I feel like your albums are very, they go very deep into a theme, right?

• 6:48Speaker 05

  I mean, I can't get bored.

• 6:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:52Speaker 05

  Boredom is like the thing that just make me really miserable.

• 6:55Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:55Speaker 05

  And because I grew up in a household where my father played the banjo and singing, my mom played karate, does theater. My brother does, does music, fair sport. My brother was a champion of table tennis. But it's always something that I am. My brain absorbs so much and everything evolve around music. So for me, going to anywhere music take me is the safe place for me, you know? I don't question if there's gonna be any humiliation or any other agenda that being together to tell a story. So I'm not afraid of any genre of music. I mean, I remember going to a movie.

• 7:40Speaker 05

  We had movie theaters in Benin. And the only movie we, we see were karate music or Indian music. So there is a movie I love so much when I was a kid because of the dance, because of the singing from, from India. And the song, I love the song so much, but I can't, I could not remember the words, but I remember the melody. And every day I would go, every Sunday I would go. One day, my father said, you know what? Every Sunday I give you money, you go to the, I can't see that movie anymore because it's the same thing you went and go and see. So at one point, it's, it's, there are some things that stays

• 8:23Speaker 05

  when image come with it and it give you so much joy that it never goes away. So I've been bugging my family. You remember that song from that Indian movie I'm like? I can't remember. And then my brother that worked for an airline say, I'm going to India. I have some friends, Indian friends. And if you can sing the melody that you remember, just send it. And I say, the melody, yeah, definitely I'll remember. But I don't understand the name. And I sing the melody.

• 8:58Speaker 05

  That's all I did. And they find the music.

• 9:01Speaker 00

  I bet.

• 9:02Speaker 05

  They gave me the lyrics. They explain everything. So I have my, one of my best friends is, is from India, Tina. And I went to Tina and say, hey, you're gonna have to explain this and teach me because I'm gonna, don't wanna make a fool of myself.

• 9:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:19Speaker 05

  And that's the thing that I do with music. I just, it stays with me and the sound of the language also is something that is really fascinating.

• 9:27Speaker 00

  Yeah. That's so cool. How many languages do you speak?

• 9:31Speaker 05

  Oh, man, don't stop.

• 9:32Speaker 00

  So many, more than, many more than me.

• 9:35Speaker 05

  I speak four from my country.

• 9:36Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 9:37Speaker 05

  Even though in my country, there's like 50-ish languages.

• 9:40Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 9:42Speaker 05

  I managed to learn four and.

• 9:45Speaker 00

  But as a child?

• 9:46Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 9:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:47Speaker 05

  And I speak French, English. I studied German for five years. I'm learning Portuguese right now. I can't speak Portuguese.

• 9:56Speaker 00

  I love singing in Portuguese.

• 9:58Speaker 05

  Me too.

• 9:59Speaker 00

  That's a really fun, and the songs are so good, too.

• 10:02Speaker 05

  You see, you see.

• 10:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, I get it.

• 10:04Speaker 05

  You, you know what, you know what I'm talking about. I mean, for us, it's easy, but people, you say that, they go, but how? I'm like, I mean, there's no word to explain. We just like it, we just do.

• 10:15Speaker 00

  It's pleasing.

• 10:16Speaker 05

  It's easy for us. They go, it really easy? I say, yeah, it is easy. Period. So by saying something that you can explain to people that are not musician or write music, or sometime they ask me the question, I just like struggle with my head. I'm like, how can I explain this for somebody that is not in this thing that we're talking about? And make sense?

• 10:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:42Speaker 05

  So sometime I don't have the words. I say, I just don't know. That's it.

• 10:46Speaker 00

  I can sing it.

• 10:47Speaker 05

  I can sing it, but I don't know anything about it. I don't know how to tell you. I'm not really good teacher. I mean, I have no patience to teach people.

• 10:54Speaker 00

  Same, same.

• 10:55Speaker 05

  You do?

• 10:55Speaker 00

  Yeah. My mom, my mom had me teach lessons to her friend when I was a kid, just for fun, beginner lessons. And she said, she said, came back and said to my mom, no, she was mean. She wasn't patient enough with me.

• 11:10Speaker 05

  You know, it's a talent.

• 11:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:12Speaker 05

  We all have our talent.

• 11:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:13Speaker 05

  Being a teacher is also a, it's us us because it's hard work.

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  It is.

• 11:18Speaker 05

  Good teacher stays with us, you know? The one that really impact our life positively, they stay with us. The one that we don't wanna remember, we just put them somewhere around. But music is not like that. You like it or not like it, it still stays with you somehow. It doesn't go away. Teachers you can forget.

• 11:37Speaker 00

  That's true.

• 11:38Speaker 05

  But teaching is, I know the skill.

• 11:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's a, it's a real talent.

• 11:42Speaker 05

  Don't hide.

• 11:43Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 11:44Speaker 05

  And we ain't ashamed of saying it. Thank you.

• 11:48Speaker 00

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• 13:53Speaker 00

  Do you wanna play a song?

• 13:54Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 13:55Speaker 00

  Would you sing a song?

• 13:56Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 13:57Speaker 00

  I was wondering if we could do a song from your new album and then we can talk about it after. But this is the song, You Can. Yeah? And what language is it that you're singing in, in the, in the beginning of this?

• 14:10Speaker 05

  I start with the language of my father. My father is Phong. And it's a song of lost. But also looking for what you can do out of that lost. And this song, You Can, it started with my daughter. I think it was October, November last year, she came down at breakfast. And then she said, she sat in her, looking at me like, Naima, what's wrong?

• 14:53Speaker 05

  And then she said, mommy, you know, I just realized that I have to mourn the world, the world that had been promised to us.

• 15:01Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:02Speaker 05

  And I said, no, you can't say that. She said, mom, spare me the words. I know exactly what you're gonna say, but I don't believe in it. Because this world is not what, what we can do. I mean, I don't, and it's just like, my daughter never speak like that, you know? So it just like, my guts was just like, oh. She does, she doesn't wanna hear what I have to say. And I said to myself, the only thing I can do is to sing to her. Not only for her, but for all the, the generation of young kids that we raising today. For them, for them not to lose hope.

• 15:45Speaker 05

  Because they can, they are the one that can, they can rebuild what has been broken today. So for me, it's a tough song, but it has, we have to do this.

• 15:57Speaker 00

  It's beautiful, though, and it really, I mean, I was thinking about my kids when I was learning it. So makes sense, yeah.

• 16:06Speaker 05

  But if you don't have kids, you don't understand sometime. And, and it's difficult to see your children trying to figure out things. And even if you have the right words, you don't really get to the feeling that they. That's what I understood, that I could say anything. She, she understand intellectually everything that I have to say, but her guts is just messed up.

• 16:29Speaker 00

  And also she's in a different place than you. Yeah. And you can't change that.

• 16:37Speaker 05

  We just can try to do the best we can.

• 16:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 16:40Speaker 05

  So that's what we're gonna do today. Go for it.

• 16:43Speaker 00

  Okay. Okay.

• 18:42Speaker 05

  I'm so sorry, you deserve much better.

• 18:49Speaker 05

  In this world. World you were born into.

• 18:56Speaker 05

  I've been fighting a real good fight to bring us together.

• 19:05Speaker 05

  And I hope you do better than I could do.

• 19:12Speaker 05

  You can. I believe you can.

• 19:25Speaker 05

  If anyone is gonna get to opposites to hold each other's hands.

• 19:38Speaker 05

  They believe you can be possible. Keep trying to change what they say you can't. Keep trying to do the impossible.

• 20:05Speaker 05

  Keep trying to change what they say you can't. I believe you can.

• 20:22Speaker 05

  It's hard for me to sing it. I should have let you sing it.

• 20:26Speaker 00

  It was beautiful.

• 20:27Speaker 05

  Oh, boy.

• 20:28Speaker 00

  I messed up a little.

• 20:29Speaker 05

  No, the song, it's not a matter of me. You do what you feel with it.

• 20:33Speaker 00

  I know it's deep.

• 20:35Speaker 05

  But that's the power of music.

• 20:36Speaker 00

  I know, I know.

• 20:38Speaker 05

  You go where it takes you. That's what it is. The song is, that's the thing that people don't get. A song is a telling story, storytelling. And we all tell the story differently.

• 20:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 20:50Speaker 05

  The way it touches us.

• 20:52Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 20:52Speaker 05

  You can't do something that I do and I can't do what you do. Because I don't, I'm not in your soul. I'm not sitting on your soul right now. So I like the way you sing it because it gives me another perspective on that song.

• 21:06Speaker 05

  That it means the song gonna have a life.

• 21:08Speaker 00

  It's a great song. I mean, it's very universally.

• 21:12Speaker 05

  But it's hard.

• 21:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 21:13Speaker 05

  For parents.

• 21:14Speaker 00

  Exactly. It's very hard.

• 21:18Speaker 05

  Because you know what? That's what we have to give. That's what we have to give. We just do it.

• 21:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:23Speaker 05

  You don't have the choice.

• 21:24Speaker 00

  I know, it's true. And the new album is, it's called Hope.

• 21:30Speaker 05

  I wrote this album. It took me five years since my mom passed.

• 21:33Speaker 00

  Ah.

• 21:34Speaker 05

  So it's just like, I just have to give time to it.

• 21:40Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:41Speaker 05

  And sit on it and let it just take me wherever. And through the process of doing it, I felt my mom all the time.

• 21:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 21:51Speaker 05

  So she has helped me get out of the hole I was digging to myself. She's like, come on, you gotta sing. Get out of here.

• 21:59Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 22:00Speaker 05

  So that's her spirit. My mom is always like, that's power of energy, of positivity, of doing things. You gotta do things. Don't sit here, just go for it. And that's what I wanted to celebrate because her magic word was hope.

• 22:16Speaker 00

  Really?

• 22:17Speaker 05

  Because she's always said to you, what will you do without help?

• 22:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 22:22Speaker 05

  How do you leave the house to go do anything out if you don't have hope that you're gonna come back? Or you have something, you can achieve something.

• 22:28Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:28Speaker 05

  Without hope.

• 22:29Speaker 00

  Why do anything?

• 22:30Speaker 05

  Exactly. Why do anything? I mean, and it's one thing that we keep on forgetting in the era of technology. And it's, we lose hope, it's gonna be difficult to come back.

• 22:42Speaker 00

  Well, yeah, because we're assaulted all the time with information.

• 22:44Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 22:45Speaker 00

  And bad news.

• 22:46Speaker 05

  Sure, too much.

• 22:47Speaker 00

  And there's lots of bad news, but.

• 22:49Speaker 05

  Yeah, but.

• 22:50Speaker 00

  We're not meant to retain all of it. All over the world, we're not meant to know everything that's going on that's bad all over the world at all times.

• 22:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, that's what it is. I mean, for me, it's an assault on the human spirit.

• 23:04Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's true.

• 23:04Speaker 05

  And we cannot let it happen. Because we, when internet come, we thought it was gonna be a good thing in all the way. We're gonna, the world gonna become closer to us. We're gonna come to know each other. We're gonna be a better listener, better, I mean, accepting people. And it turned out to be a space of canceling, bullying, everything but really human-like. And I thought during the pandemic that if you get out of this pandemic, we're gonna get, we're gonna be better.

• 23:44Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:45Speaker 05

  There's something good that gonna come out of it. I'm still waiting for the good. It's gonna come. I never wanna lose hope.

• 23:51Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:51Speaker 05

  I believe in us more than anything else. Because I know that there's no me without us.

• 23:58Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 23:59Speaker 05

  It can, it can be. There are things that are bigger than us. Why you and I are singers? We could have been doing anything else.

• 24:06Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 24:06Speaker 05

  Why? And that's the question I can't answer. Because if you can't answer it, just live up to it.

• 24:11Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 24:12Speaker 05

  And move on. And whatever you can do with your music to bring people to accept who they are is already a huge achievement.

• 24:20Speaker 00

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 24:22Speaker 05

  We are privileged. I mean, the power we have, we don't, I'm starting to realize that music is something that is a gift of nature that allows us to be free, really, to just go.

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 24:37Speaker 05

  Just go for it.

• 24:38Speaker 00

  A gift of nature. I like how you put that.

• 24:41Speaker 05

  It is.

• 24:42Speaker 00

  Because I always think of music as such a weird phenomenon because it's, it's sort of in our bodies and what is pitch? And what is rhythm? It's just whatever it is.

• 24:52Speaker 05

  It's in your DNA.

• 24:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's already there.

• 24:54Speaker 05

  It's there. I mean, imagine when the prehistoric people, I mean, our ancestor way back then, when they were on, on, on both their hand and their knees and then they stand and walk.

• 25:08Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 25:09Speaker 05

  They, then they were surrounded by an environment that have music.

• 25:16Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 25:17Speaker 05

  The trees, when the wind with the trees, it's have different sound. The sound of the wave is different. The sound of birds is different. So for them to, to live in that world, they have to decipher, is this a dangerous sound? Or is this a friendly sound?

• 25:36Speaker 00

  A joyful sound.

• 25:37Speaker 05

  A joyful sound.

• 25:38Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 25:38Speaker 05

  So step by step, they start, their heartbeat becomes the first rhythm. Because they have, they can walk against their heartbeat.

• 25:49Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 25:50Speaker 05

  So when people tell me I don't have rhythm, I say, then you're not alive. So you're walking backward with your own, your body. Our heartbeat is our first rhythm.

• 25:59Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 26:00Speaker 05

  So everything is there. We just manage step by step to find the notes, to start writing the music. But intuitively, we can sing. When your baby was born, he cries and you, when your baby is crying somewhere among other kids, you know.

• 26:17Speaker 00

  You know it.

• 26:19Speaker 05

  How do you know that? I mean, I thought I was never gonna know, but I know distinctively when my baby was crying, I know.

• 26:26Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 26:26Speaker 05

  So we are part of nature. It's something that deeply engraved in me through my, my mother's mother. She was a herbalist. She always deal with plants since I was a kid. She would wake me up at five o'clock in the morning, let's go get some plant, plant. I'm like, this is summertime, it's holidays. I don't wanna wake up at five o'clock. She goes, get up, I said. I'm like, oh, grandma, just wanna sleep, let, get up. So I would get up and she would talk to the plant. She would tell me, this does this, this plant is not good, this. And even when I were half asleep, I'll pay attention.

• 27:02Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:03Speaker 05

  And at the very early age, I was aware of the fact that my body was also part of the nature. So once you understand that, you take care of it differently.

• 27:15Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 27:15Speaker 05

  We just don't want to give into that sense that we have of belonging to this earth where we want to be seen like something special, nobody, nobody's special.

• 27:28Speaker 00

  No, but we're all just part of this planet and, and just.

• 27:31Speaker 05

  In our DNA, the rhythm is already, yeah, the DNA is there. Why do you groove? You don't know why you're grooving. It's there. You, even the rhythm, you never heard, hear about, before that rhythm, something in your body moves.

• 27:43Speaker 00

  Yeah. No, it's true.

• 27:45Speaker 05

  I love that.

• 27:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 27:47Speaker 05

  I love it so much.

• 27:48Speaker 00

  I love it. I wanna go dancing with you.

• 27:50Speaker 05

  Yeah, let's go, my girl. Come on.

• 27:52Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 27:52Speaker 05

  Let's start, let's start the party, man.

• 27:54Speaker 00

  Let's go.

• 27:55Speaker 05

  Guys, let's put the DJ on.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  Please.

• 27:59Speaker 05

  You and I don't need nobody to play music and dance and sing, so we can do by ourselves.

• 28:03Speaker 00

  Let's do it.

• 28:04Speaker 05

  You give me a cover, I just put it on.

• 28:05Speaker 00

  Yeah. Do you play, do you play?

• 28:07Speaker 05

  I like percussion.

• 28:08Speaker 00

  Percussion, yeah.

• 28:09Speaker 05

  And I remember when I was a little girl, I was playing percussion. You're like, you're a girl, you're not supposed to play percussion. And my dad said, who says so?

• 28:17Speaker 00

  Oh, nice. That's good dad.

• 28:18Speaker 05

  My dad said, who says so? Don't say that. If she grow up, she marry somebody, when she cook, it won't be cooked. My father said, if the husband can't cook, let him die of not having food.

• 28:30Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:30Speaker 05

  My daughter is not cooking for nobody. I'm like, oh, Lord.

• 28:34Speaker 00

  So can you cook?

• 28:35Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 28:36Speaker 00

  Yeah, I bet you can.

• 28:36Speaker 05

  I love to cook.

• 28:38Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:38Speaker 05

  Especially when somebody tell me, don't do this. Oh, you can't do this because you're a woman. Oh, I say, okay.

• 28:46Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 28:47Speaker 05

  I take my time, I see, I try, I look at it and I do it better than you.

• 28:51Speaker 00

  That's right. So did you grow up with a lot of brothers?

• 28:54Speaker 05

  Seven.

• 28:55Speaker 00

  Seven brothers?

• 28:56Speaker 05

  Three girls.

• 28:57Speaker 00

  And are you the baby?

• 28:58Speaker 05

  I was the baby girl.

• 28:59Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 29:00Speaker 05

  And I have three brothers after me.

• 29:02Speaker 00

  Oh, my, are you serious?

• 29:04Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:04Speaker 00

  That's a lot.

• 29:05Speaker 05

  Yeah, and then they tried to rule my life. I'm like, hey dude.

• 29:09Speaker 00

  Big, big family.

• 29:10Speaker 05

  I got four, four. I've already given headache. You, nah.

• 29:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:14Speaker 05

  I'm your bigger sister. You start messing up with me, I'll mess with you. Good.

• 29:19Speaker 00

  So does everybody in the family have a big personality or?

• 29:23Speaker 05

  Oh, everybody has personality.

• 29:24Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:25Speaker 05

  My mom and dad, both of them are single kids, which is very rare.

• 29:29Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 29:29Speaker 05

  They don't have brothers, so they live in their head.

• 29:31Speaker 00

  Okay. And then they had a big family.

• 29:33Speaker 05

  Yeah, everything has to go over, they processing in their head all the time. But the thing that was really interesting is was the commitment to education, both of them.

• 29:42Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 29:43Speaker 05

  My mom and dad said, there'll be no one in this house sitting down, not going to school.

• 29:49Speaker 05

  You gotta learn.

• 29:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:51Speaker 05

  And understand it's for your good, my father said, not for me. You been educated for yourself. And me, I just like, I hated it. I had to go to school.

• 30:02Speaker 00

  You just sit still.

• 30:03Speaker 05

  I can't stay. And then I was so little and everybody was picking on me. And the worst part of it is that because I was this low, every grade my sister and brother had been to, I was curious enough to understand where the stuff are. When I come to school and the teacher is talking gibberish, I'm like, this is not right. So I get punished all the time. So I'm like, ah. So I was hyperactive, but we don't know any of those in Africa that if you're active, your family is happy because at least you're not sick, you know? You're running around, it's okay. But the thing with school was that I realized that going to school gonna serve me more than my parents,

• 30:48Speaker 05

  whatever they're gonna say. Because it's true that when you are educated, you live in a world where you can use your critical thinking.

• 30:58Speaker 00

  Yes, you can decide.

• 31:00Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 31:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, that makes sense.

• 31:02Speaker 05

  And my father always used to say, the world we're living in now where we are home, it won't be the same tomorrow, let alone in a year or 10 years from now. So in order for you to be an adult, really, when you grow up, to make decisions based on the change you're gonna be facing, is to take the changes that comes as an opportunity. Not against you, but opportunity for you to be able to grab and do something with it. You gotta be flexible. You gotta be fluid. You got to be able to fall deep below ground. You can't stay there. Within a second, you have to come up and say, okay, next, am I turning left, right?

• 31:44Speaker 05

  Do I have plan B, A, C, D, whatever it is?

• 31:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, you have to scan the room and figure it out. Yeah, that's a good advice.

• 31:54Speaker 05

  That's what education does to you.

• 31:55Speaker 00

  It's a good way to see it, yeah.

• 31:57Speaker 05

  And then you can also find, if you don't know, you can ask. My father always used to say, there's no shame of asking you don't know. What you know is what you know, but you don't know it, if somebody know it, go find it.

• 32:11Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's great advice. Yeah, I'm gonna use that.

• 32:15Speaker 05

  But it's simple like that, but not all parents do that. So I, I'm sitting here talking to you as it was easy for me to accept all those. Sometimes I just like, can you stop, stop talking? Tell me what I gotta do, please.

• 32:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's hard to be told what to do.

• 32:33Speaker 05

  But parents do that all the time. That's why the kid just go, whatever.

• 32:36Speaker 00

  I know, my kids don't like being told what to do.

• 32:38Speaker 05

  Oh, me too.

• 32:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 32:39Speaker 05

  I'm like, but you can't say whatever. You have to say whatever, somebody gonna smack your mouth.

• 32:43Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 32:43Speaker 05

  I'm like, oh, man.

• 32:45Speaker 00

  That's right.

• 32:45Speaker 05

  That's not true. That's not good.

• 32:50Speaker 00

  If you're a music fan, I've got a new podcast you have to check out. It's called Before the Moment, a new series hosted by the legendary Nile Rodgers. You know him as the producer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of Chic. But in this series, he's hitting the road to sit down with some of today's most fascinating artists. From hitmakers like Miguel to rising stars like Alex Warren, Nile explores the stories behind the careers, the songs and the moments that changed everything. Because every artist can point to that turning point. The moment before the breakthrough, before the success, before everything changed. Through candid conversations and personal stories, you'll hear what happened before the moment that made them who they are today.

• 33:36Speaker 00

  Listen to Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on the iHeartRadio app, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 33:45Speaker 07

  This is Jonas Knox from Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Buy Smart Drive for Less and Trade for More. That's Toyota Ford Ability and it starts with a great deal on an off-road ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's longest-lasting trucks. Combining power for work, tech for adventures and style in between. Built on a reputation for quality and reliability, Toyota trucks are known for holding their value, which could mean big savings when it's time for your next Toyota. So get a great deal today and a great value tomorrow. Shop toyota.com for more. Toyota, let's go places.

• 34:22Speaker 00

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. So you took five years to make this album. Did you still perform that whole time?

• 34:59Speaker 05

  Yeah, I was still doing something else when I come back. You know, studio is not a very easy place for me.

• 35:05Speaker 00

  Really?

• 35:06Speaker 05

  Because everything was so instantaneous when I was growing up. You wanna play music, you grab the drums. Everybody comes in, in the whole place, the whole street, the whole family, the friends. It's the champagne. I mean, it's the party. And music for me was that. And when I arrived in 1980 or 81 to do my first album, I was still a student. I took my student loan to do my album. And I found myself in a studio with an engineer. And I was singing to the tape because the producer is not there. I just have to put my voice in there. And I was just like, huh? That's how you do it in Europe? This is not human.

• 35:48Speaker 05

  But I spent the whole night singing it and never knew how it's gonna be mixed till the album was released. And I was like, okay, I gotta figure out the studio part of it.

• 36:00Speaker 00

  There's like a disconnect.

• 36:01Speaker 05

  Yeah, I'm gonna continue going on stage. And that's what I did, even when I was in jazz school, I was still touring at that time. To make sense of school, I need to be able to put it in practice. I mean, I have to be in the making of it. So it was difficult for me to really adapt to the studio. My husband will tell you, he prepares everything and he tell me it's gonna take 10 minutes. And after 10 minutes, I'm out.

• 36:28Speaker 00

  And do you ever, are you ever able to go in just like with the whole band? And when you just do it live and then you capture that?

• 36:34Speaker 05

  That's what I started doing since 2000.

• 36:36Speaker 00

  That's, sounds like your thing.

• 36:37Speaker 05

  That's exactly what I started doing.

• 36:39Speaker 00

  Live in the studio with the whole band.

• 36:41Speaker 05

  And I love it so much.

• 36:42Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 36:43Speaker 05

  And then sometimes you listen to the tape back, my voice in the microphone, the drums, I say, I don't care.

• 36:49Speaker 00

  Yeah, but the energy, you can't replace that.

• 36:52Speaker 05

  No, and I don't want perfection. Perfection is sickness.

• 36:55Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 36:55Speaker 05

  It's a disease. It sounds good, it makes me happy and I can sing it, I can go on stage. Anywhere I go, I'll be happy singing it.

• 37:03Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 37:03Speaker 05

  That's all that matters.

• 37:05Speaker 00

  Also, I think the energy when you're recording live and the energy between you and the musicians in the room, it translates in a way that touches people that's much different.

• 37:16Speaker 05

  Yeah, never. And then that's what I like about this album because we start the home writing with my husband and a friend of mine called Shunguz, she's from Zimbabwe, she can write. Oh my God, that girl is so talented. Oh, she can write the words, simple, but right to the point. And then I came to Los Angeles and have the drum, horn, cello, everything. I mean, people recording everything. Then I continued recording in Paris. And every time, for example, let's say, Era Star Song, she said it, we were already mastering, pretty much. So we say, stop, we gotta wait. And the song arrived within a week, we did it.

• 38:01Speaker 05

  The same with Diamond Platinums, the song of Diamond Platinums, actually. He sent that song to me around five years ago. And the funny thing is, he was thinking about the song as the same time I was sending him a DM saying, what are we doing with the song? And then he said, I'm about, I was like, let's do it. Let's do it. So we did the song, boom, like that also. And with Nile, I mean, we've been talking about working together for so long. And we had a friend, a common friend called Philip Sess. I don't know if you know Philip Sess, he plays the piano. So we work on the song. I'm like, oh, this sound like Carnival stuff in here. Let's get to Brazil and find somebody else. Then we find Isa.

• 38:46Speaker 05

  And then the song, it's like, I was not in a hurry. I didn't have a schedule. I didn't have the pressure of the record company said, we gotta do the album this time. And it all worked out fine. The same thing with Pharrell. Pharrell, I met Pharrell in Rome because he was doing the Grace Concert for the Vatican. We were rehearsing in the afternoon before the show, no, the day of the show, afternoon we were rehearsing. And then he was sitting exactly as you're sitting behind the grand piano. And me, I was playing with the house band. I was singing the song from Celia Cruz, La Vida es un Carnival. And then he came in straight from that chico.

• 39:32Speaker 05

  Angelique, are you, do you have some music? Are you releasing some music right now? I said, yeah, pretty soon. I wanna write song for it.

• 39:39Speaker 00

  No, that's great.

• 39:40Speaker 05

  I said, okay. I'm like, I'm like, really? Okay, okay. And then we exchanged our phone numbers with his team. And two weeks after in Paris, I went to his studio and he was already working on the song, no stopping us. And I arrived, I looked at him, I don't know the machine where he's working, I don't know nothing about it. And I'm like, this is sounding like dope. This is good. And then he was, I'm like, is he done yet? And he continued doing the stuff. I'm sitting down there, right looking at him, I'm like, I wish I can be in his head to hear what he's hearing.

• 40:21Speaker 00

  Oh, I bet.

• 40:22Speaker 05

  Because every time he put this and then the next step, I'm like, I never heard that.

• 40:26Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:26Speaker 05

  I didn't expect that, you know? And then we did that song, and then I said, oh, I can write the lyrics for this one. I know somebody that can help me write the lyrics. And then he stood on the microphone and he was having melody in his head. And I go, and he go, and I want you to know, yeah. And then you can, I said, don't, don't do more. It's, I'll work on it.

• 40:52Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:52Speaker 05

  And then he said, but I have a couple of songs. You want to listen to some of my songs? I say, hell, yeah.

• 40:58Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:59Speaker 05

  Bring it. So he start playing it and then he played for me, the song for me. I go, that's it. That's my song. I want that song.

• 41:09Speaker 00

  You picked it.

• 41:10Speaker 05

  I want this song. Can I have it? He looked at me and said, I want it. Please, please, please. It's okay, okay, okay, okay. You got it. So I left with those themes, the two songs. Oh, my God. It was paradise. And then he sent me Bendo. And I didn't look at my phone. Me, I'm, I'm really bad with my phone. And then my husband was looking at something, the message somebody sent to me, both of us. And he couldn't find his. And then he looked at my phone and said, did you realize, did you see that Farid sent you a song three days ago? I'm like, oh.

• 41:49Speaker 00

  He's like sweating.

• 41:52Speaker 05

  My husband, you are just a mess, you know that, right? I said, well, sorry, let's listen. And we listened to Bendo. And I'm like, oh, man, this is gonna be something. We recorded, we sent it. And then two weeks after, he sent us, um, the horn section, but played by his piano. And then asked if I know a, a horn section in Paris. I found one. My keyboard player did the arrangement and we recorded that and we sent it. And he was working on that and I have the weirdest dream ever. The week after, and I woke up in cold sweat, panic, total panic. So in my dream, I was on stage with Eminem.

• 42:38Speaker 05

  You see, you saw that, and you know, you know what I'm. And then he was singing My Name Is, and he invited me on stage and give him the microphone and say, take it home. I say, hey Jude, I can't rap. I ain't making a fool out of myself. He said, no, go on. And I was like, no. And I woke up, I say, please, God, never put me in that kind of situation where I'll make a fool out of myself.

• 43:02Speaker 00

  Do you have those dreams a lot, like anxiety?

• 43:04Speaker 05

  That's the first time it happens to me.

• 43:05Speaker 00

  Oh, I have them all the time.

• 43:06Speaker 05

  Oh, no, please, no. This is too scary, man.

• 43:09Speaker 00

  Where I, I'm only in my underwear and I have to go on stage.

• 43:12Speaker 05

  Oh, no, shoot.

• 43:13Speaker 00

  Or I have no set list, or I can't remember the lyrics and I have no makeup on or like, you know, you don't have your armor.

• 43:21Speaker 05

  I know.

• 43:22Speaker 00

  And then slowly people start leaving the audience until, and I'm like, I don't know.

• 43:28Speaker 05

  It's, it's, it's terrible.

• 43:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 43:30Speaker 05

  Terrifying.

• 43:30Speaker 00

  It's an anxiety dream.

• 43:32Speaker 05

  Jeez, I woke up, I'm like, oh, no, please, God, no, no, not that.

• 43:37Speaker 00

  I can't rap.

• 43:41Speaker 05

  So I texted it.

• 43:44Speaker 05

  Farid, I said, I think our song Bendo need a rapper like Eminem.

• 43:48Speaker 00

  That's so funny.

• 43:49Speaker 05

  And if he say yes, what am I gonna do? And then he said, I think I know somebody that can do this. And then he invited Quavo. That's how we did it.

• 43:58Speaker 00

  That's amazing.

• 43:58Speaker 05

  The whole album have been like that.

• 44:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, we're just kinda all over.

• 44:01Speaker 05

  Yeah, organic, whatever. I say, if it feels good, it's gonna be okay.

• 44:07Speaker 00

  That's great.

• 44:08Speaker 05

  I said.

• 44:08Speaker 00

  That's the way to do it.

• 44:09Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's like rendezvous.

• 44:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 44:11Speaker 05

  And you're right on time. You're supposed to be where you have to be at that moment. So that's this album. I mean, that's my mom, my mom pushing buttons here and there.

• 44:22Speaker 00

  That's nice.

• 44:22Speaker 05

  So.

• 44:24Speaker 00

  That's beautiful.

• 44:26Speaker 05

  But.

• 44:43Speaker 05

  I got a feeling, it just won't let me go. It's deeper than you know, I promise. I got a feeling, it's stirring in my soul. It's something that I can't control. It's a feeling of the sunshine. When I get it, then I'm all right. I'm just bracing for the good times. I know I'm taking nothing but the good vibes. I put my hands over my eyes, cause it's finally going right.

• 45:22Speaker 05

  For me, yeah. For me, yeah.

• 45:33Speaker 05

  I got a feeling, it just won't let me go. It's deeper than you know, I promise. I got a feeling, it's stirring in my soul. It's something that I can't control. It's a feeling of the sunshine. When I get it, I'm all right. I'm just bracing for the good times. I know I'm taking nothing but the good vibes. I put my hands over my eyes, cause it's finally going right.

• 46:12Speaker 05

  For me, yeah.

• 46:17Speaker 05

  For me, yeah. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling pretty and I can't compare it. I know you gonna throw shades with wonder. It may be lonely, but it's working out for me. I know you hate it. You might have made it, but I'm celebrating. I'm celebrating me.

• 47:03Speaker 05

  It's a feeling of the sunshine. When I get it, then I'm all right. I'm just bracing for the good times. I know I'm taking nothing but the good vibes. I put my hands over my eyes, cause it's finally going right.

• 47:21Speaker 05

  For me, yeah.

• 47:26Speaker 05

  For me, yeah.

• 47:31Speaker 05

  For me, for you, for me. For you and me, yeah. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. It's stirring in my spirit and I can't compare it one more. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again. I woke up feeling different and I want to share it. I'm alive again.

• 48:14Speaker 05

  It's stirring in my spirit and I can't compare it. I'm alive again.

• 48:21Speaker 05

  I can't see where I'm at.

• 48:25Speaker 05

  I knew I have to do something.

• 48:26Speaker 00

  That's fun. I definitely want to go dancing with you now.

• 48:30Speaker 05

  Oh, okay, let's go. Well, be careful what you wish for because you, you better have a great dancing shoes.

• 48:37Speaker 00

  I know.

• 48:38Speaker 05

  And have a good siesta before.

• 48:39Speaker 00

  Oh, my God, that's so fun.

• 48:40Speaker 05

  And wait till I get off my jet lag and then you see how good I am.

• 48:44Speaker 00

  That was fun. Thank you.

• 48:45Speaker 05

  I love this song.

• 48:46Speaker 00

  Thank you so much.

• 48:47Speaker 05

  I love we share these two songs for me. Those two songs means a lot for me.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  They're really beautiful.

• 48:52Speaker 05

  Yeah. I mean, we have to celebrate ourselves to be able to celebrate others.

• 48:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's true.

• 48:56Speaker 05

  And we live in a world where we just forget about us before getting, getting out there and give. We always give because we are musicians, that's what we do. But it's sometimes we have to celebrate ourselves.

• 49:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's beautiful. If you're a music fan, I've got a new podcast you have to check out. It's called Before the Moment, a new series hosted by the legendary Nile Rodgers. You know him as the producer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of Chic. But in this series, he's hitting the road to sit down with some of today's most fascinating artists. From hitmakers like Miguel to rising stars like Alex Warren, Nile explores the stories behind the careers, the songs and the moments that changed everything. Because every artist can point to that turning point, the moment before the breakthrough, before the success, before everything changed. Through candid conversations and personal stories,

• 49:52Speaker 00

  you'll hear what happened before the moment that made them who they are today. Listen to Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on the iHeartRadio app, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 50:06Speaker 06

  Hey, it's Lunchbox from the Bobby Bones Show. Buy smart, drive for less and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability and it starts with a great deal on an all-wheel drive Camry, Corolla Cross or a Corolla sedan with the latest features in tech. Or test drive a spacious Grand Highlander or an adventure-ready RAV4. And with so many hybrid models available, you can enjoy longer trips without all the stops. While Toyota's legendary resale value means you could get more at trade-in. Get a deal today and great value tomorrow. Shop toyota.com for deals and details. Toyota, let's go places. Cash flow crunch? On Deck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it.

• 50:51Speaker 06

  Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat with flexible.

• 50:57Speaker 00

  Draws, transparent pricing and control over repayment. Get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Well, thank you so much. You're here to do some promotion for your record. Are you doing a concert?

• 51:20Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 51:20Speaker 00

  It's awesome.

• 51:21Speaker 05

  A lot of, a lot of expectation and a lot of excitement from my side.

• 51:27Speaker 00

  That's good.

• 51:27Speaker 05

  Because I just want to, I feel the urge and the need to bring some positivity in this world.

• 51:37Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 51:37Speaker 05

  Right now.

• 51:38Speaker 00

  I definitely think you do.

• 51:40Speaker 05

  We need to.

• 51:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, we need to.

• 51:42Speaker 05

  That's what we have to do.

• 51:43Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 51:43Speaker 05

  Because we have privilege that a lot of people don't.

• 51:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 51:47Speaker 05

  So if we can touch people, let's continue to do it, Nora.

• 51:50Speaker 00

  That's great.

• 51:51Speaker 05

  We can't stop.

• 51:52Speaker 00

  I love it. And you're always doing other things, too. You have foundation, you have, you have humanitarian stuff you do all over the...

• 52:01Speaker 05

  You know what? That also inform and inspire with the work I do. Because when you don't get out of your comfort zone, you think that everything is all right.

• 52:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 52:13Speaker 05

  And next door, somebody is suffering. And I think that the purpose of us human beings is to be here to serve one another. And the work I do, basically, the people that I try to help, they are the ones that help me stay humble and to see what is possible to do.

• 52:32Speaker 00

  They inspire you.

• 52:33Speaker 05

  They inspire me. We're great more than any way that, I mean, I get into this without knowing what the journey gonna look like. Because when I, what UNICEF asked me in 2002 to become their goodwill ambassador, I was like, I say yes, and then suddenly I'm like, hold on a minute. What does that mean?

• 52:51Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 52:52Speaker 05

  What does it entail? So if it's political stuff, I don't do, I'm not good at it. So they say, no, what you wanna do? And I say, I just wanna see how we can help the young girl and the young boy and the family, and especially the mothers. And it was an eye opener for me because even though my parents were always going out of their way to help other people, the needs of help around the world is out of this world. And what is really painful for me that I struggle with, that I still continue struggling with, is how we cannot be there for our children. How can we create a world in which, in our selfishness, the kids, some kids don't have food. They can't eat.

• 53:37Speaker 05

  And we have places where people throw food away without thinking about how we can save somebody's life. And all those little kids, they are the ones that hold my hand. Sometime I will arrive, I'll be crying. And they will look at me and say, we want this song, we want this song. I think you have to just gather yourself together because you and other they are looking up to make, find meaning to their lives. And it's, it is hard for me to find words sometimes, especially when you're in, in front of a little boy. And the conflict is over, the camp, but they can't go home. There's no family anymore to go to.

• 54:20Speaker 05

  Because those kids was forced to kill the family to become child soldier. And you have that 12 years old little boy there. And the only thing he's giving you is disturbing drawing. And you're like, I've been 12 years old girl. What he's saying and he's drawing is just not acceptable. As a mother, it was difficult for me. And adults around, they're trying their best, but they were, everybody was a little bit lost. So I don't know what went to my head, Nora, and I start singing a lullaby. And I see that little boy starts smiling. And you see the gasp of the social worker, everybody that was there.

• 55:04Speaker 05

  And I just keep singing the song. And then I said to myself, for there's a reason why we do what we do. And there are many things I can talk to you about here, but those kids are always there. They wanna be kid, they, they, they don't even think that they might not have a future. They already have it there. And they are forcing you to see that there is something that you can do. When you have a four, a four year old boy, orphans of parents, both parents died from HIV AIDS. And that little boy come and sat on your lap with fever like, I mean, he was so hot, I could barely touch him, right? And then he said to me, I have a message.

• 55:50Speaker 05

  Can you send, tell the world that the children, us children of this world, we have to be the priority of adults? You have a four years old child, tell them. And you walk out of there, I was numb. I was angry. But at the same time, they were still kid. As soon as I finished singing in there, everybody was hanging out on me. Come on, sing more, sing more. And I'm like, all those orphans there, they were all HIV positive.

• 56:16Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 56:18Speaker 05

  And you, you start in your brain going, what kind of adult life they're gonna have? They do nothing. They just were born and that's it. So I said to myself, if I didn't have music, I would have been in, in, in a psychiatric hospital. It's too much, too much pain that we inflict upon our children. But at the same time, if you give them something to hang on to, they run with it.

• 56:47Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:47Speaker 05

  And they do great things.

• 56:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:49Speaker 05

  That's, that's the only thing that give, that keep my hope up. I've seen it myself. And it's just like, it doesn't take millions, just the fact that you were there and you talk, they talk to you, you listen to them. And you tell them, okay, from right here, what, what can we do, what you wanna do? And you empower them to do what they have to do. It's not only one person you touch, you touch the community, the family and the country. So that's what keep me going. That's, I'm, all I'm writing about is, I can't talk about hope if I haven't seen and witnessed hope.

• 57:27Speaker 00

  Well, you have, that's the thing is you can be a witness to what they're going through and you can reflect it, you can be inspired by them and, and write songs about it.

• 57:36Speaker 05

  Especially those kids, you know what? When I arrived, they go, I'm like, I'm like, what, what, what is that? What does that mean? What is that thing? And then he's, the little boy goes to me and say, it means children first.

• 57:51Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 57:52Speaker 05

  I say, okay, so can I write a song with your rallying cry? He goes, wait a minute. He went to the other guys, he's like, they have it, our own system. He came back and said, yes, you can write a song with a rallying cry as long as the song is not a sad one.

• 58:13Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 58:13Speaker 05

  I'm like, that's the mission you gave me. I say, I promise I'll do so.

• 58:19Speaker 00

  That's sweet.

• 58:20Speaker 05

  That's it, that's it. I mean, kids will be a kid, there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to accompany them. That's all it is.

• 58:29Speaker 00

  Beautiful.

• 58:30Speaker 05

  That's all we do.

• 58:31Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:34Speaker 05

  We are mummies, you know.

• 58:35Speaker 00

  Yeah. Thank you so much. That was beautiful.

• 58:39Speaker 05

  I like being with you.

• 58:40Speaker 00

  I like your stories.

• 58:41Speaker 05

  I like, I like the, the place.

• 58:43Speaker 00

  I like you.

• 58:45Speaker 05

  Like the good vibes in you.

• 58:45Speaker 00

  I like you.

• 58:47Speaker 05

  Me too, I like you. I know why you do the music you do because you have the bright place to do it.

• 58:52Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:53Speaker 05

  Thank you so much.

• 58:55Speaker 00

  Oh, she's so fun.

• 58:57Speaker 04

  She's so cute.

• 58:58Speaker 00

  What a character. She's so awesome.

• 59:01Speaker 04

  She's incredible.

• 59:02Speaker 00

  Yeah. The songs we did today in this episode, the first one was called You Can, from Angelique Kidjo's new album, Hope, released in 2026. The second song we did was For Me, which was also from the same album. And the album version features Charlie Wilson and Pharrell Williams. Special thanks to Angelique Kidjo for joining us today. Norah Jones is Playing Along is a production of iHeart Podcasts. I'm your host, Norah Jones. This episode was recorded by Matt Marinelli, mixed by Jamie Landry. Audio post-production and mastering by Jamie Landry. Artwork by Eliza Frye. Photography by Sherwin Lenez. Produced by Norah Jones and Sarah Oda. Executive producers, Erin Wong Kaufman and Jordan Runtog.

• 59:46Speaker 00

  Marketing lead, Alison Cantor-Graeber.

• 59:58Speaker 07

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  If you love music and great artist interviews, check out Before the Moment, hosted by Niall Rogers. This new series follows Niall as he travels across the country talking with some of today's most fascinating artists about the moments that shaped their lives and careers. From hitmakers like Miguel to rising stars like Alex Warren, Niall explores the stories behind the careers, the songs, and the moments that changed everything. Because every musician remembers the point where everything changed. And this podcast tells the stories that came before it. Listen to Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on iHeart Radio app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.