Artist:Les Amazones d'Afrique
Song:Power
Album:Amazones Power
African music fans and fans of gender equality will be interested in the all female group Les Amazones d'Afrique. It looks like they were formed as a one shot deal to play a few shows. When the live shows got them a record deal with Peter Gabriel's Real World Records and the 2017 album Republique Amazone was successful, three of the singers decided to record a second album and they brought in new singers. Sometimes scheduling can be a problem when dealing with a lot of singers. Les Amazones d'Afrique was formed in 2015 by Kandia Kouyate, Angelique Kidjo, Mamani Keita, Rokia Kone, Mariam Doumbia of Amadou & Mariam, Nneka, Mariam Kone, Massan Koulibaly, Madina N'Daiye, Madiare Drame, Mouneissa Tandina and Pamela Badjogo. The group name refers to Dahomey Amazons who were female elephant hunters. The idea was to encourage women to come together and fight injustice because we are all equal. After playing a 2015 show in Marseilles, France, they released the single I Play the Kora. Profits were donated to The Panzi Foundation which provides healing support to African women who are victims of sexualized violence and female genital mutilation. After playing the 2016 WOMAD festival in England, they signed with Real World and released the 2017 album Republique Amazone. It looks like the album was supposed to be a one shot deal. But when it was successful on Billboard's World Music chart, producer Liam Farrell decided they would continue with a core of four singers and several guests. Farrell is an Irish drummer turned producer who lives in Paris. He has produced other African artists like Tony Allen. The result was the 2020 album Amazones Power. Each song has a different lead singer and the song Power has numerous singers. They toured to support the album and it looks like Les Amazones d'Afrique will continue. Here's the video for Power by Les Amazones d'Afrique.
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