Finding New Meaning in Timeless Music - The New York Times
A new wave of artists is turning African music into a force that honors the past and transcends borders. By Angelique Kidjo Ms. Kidjo is a singer-songwriter. This personal reflection is part of a series called Turning Points, in which writers explore what critical moments from this year might mean for the year ahead. You can read more by visiting the Turning Points series page. Turning Point: In April, Burna Boy, the Grammy award-winning singer, became the first artist from Nigeria to headline and sell out a show at Madison Square Garden in New York. Music links so many forms of life on this planet — from the songs of birds, the chirping of crickets and the wailing of whales to the babbling brook and the rustling of leaves. It is the cornerstone of memories for so many of us, me included. Childhood, adulthood; good times, bad times. When I was a young girl growing up in Benin in the ’60s, music was all around us. Traditional musicians taught us beautiful songs about my country’s storie
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