Les Amazones d’Afrique

https://realworldrecords.com/artist/43...

Les Amazones d'Afrique are an all-female collective of west African musicians campaigning for gender equality. They have been described as a supergroup, and the characterisation seems apt. Angélique Kidjo, Kandia Kouyaté, Mamani Keita, Mariam Doumbia, Mariam Koné, Massan Coulibaly, Mouneissa Tandina, Nneka, Pamela Badjogo and Rokia Koné hold a strong pedigree.



Angelique Kidjo has a glittering haul of Grammy awards, Kandia Kouyaté holds the title of ngara - a prestige only given to those artist-musicians of the Mande people in west Africa who possess what is deemed to be a certain aura of greatness - while some of the younger musicians, like Nneka, have been the voices behind recent international hit singles. Between them they have years of charitable work supporting other women, alongside personal struggles of illness and disability that have been overcome. Mariam Doumbia, for instance, is one half of the legendary duo 'Amadou and Mariam', and has managed to sidestep the prejudices associated with blindness through her music.