Beninese singer, songwriter, and activist Angélique Kidjo has always showcased the indelible influence of the African continent's varied musical traditions on global popular music. Recent examples include her 2018 track-for-track remake of the Talking Heads' Remain in Light, and 2019's Celia, her tribute to salsa goddess Celia Cruz, who spent her career celebrating the primacy of African sources in Cuban music. Mother Nature goes further than either of those records. Kidjo's first album of original music in years, it was created with a host of -- mostly -- younger collaborators from several countries.
Opener "Choose Love" was co-written by Zimbabwean-American songwriter Shungudzo Kuyimba and Nigerian-born songwriter/music executive Adeniyi "Synematik" Adelekan. A rousing chant sung in rounds, it features Benin countryman Lionel Loueke's guitar as the only instrumental accompaniment; Kidjo and Kuyimba meld their euphoric voices in the chorus. The original "Dignity" is a massively funky duet with Nigerian Afro-pop singer and co-composer Yemi Alade. It's an anthem of resistance inspired by the Nigerian youth movement's attempt to disband the country's notoriously corrupt Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The inspiring "Africa, One of a Kind" features Nigerian singer/songwriter and producer Mr Eazi. Amid the bumping, bouncing, string-heavy mix fueled by the Malian guitar/bass trio of Joshua Moszi, Djessou Mory Kanté, and Ijomone Emmanuel is a familiar voice lifting up the other singers: Salif Keita's classic "Africa" is amply sampled here as the tune's core. Other highlights include the title track, co-written by Kidjo, her husband, keyboardist and producer Jean Hébrail, and British songwriter Jenn Decilveo, and performed with Kidjo's road band. Its meld of reggae, highlife, and Afrobeat offers both an homage to the planet and a warning to those who would refuse to honor and protect her. Other highlights include the bumping groover "Do Yourself" with Nigerian singer/songwriter/rapper (and Grammy winner) Burna Boy. Co-produced by Chisom Ezeh and Rexxie, it's a joyous number built for the dancefloor, offering intricate vocal lines and soaring choruses atop layers of percussion, guitars, keyboards, and abundantly layered loops. Kidjo and Kuyimba re-team on "Meant for Me," an infectiously danceable testament to acceptance with Synematik handling the instrumentation and samples. Kidjo joins Zambian singer/songwriter Sampa the Great on the breezy, skittering, poignant empowerment manifesto "Free & Equal," and on "Take It or Leave It" she teams with Atlanta hip-hop duo EarthGang, with Kuyimba on backing vocals and production by the Roots' James Poyser. Brit jazz-hop duo Blue Lab Beats and Ghetto Boy assist on the simmering club banger "Fired Up," slamming hip-hop and West African rhythms under guitarist Dominic James, who crisscrosses through juju and highlife with Malian blues runs and spidery funk. Kidjo delves into dramatic pop chanson on "Mycelium" with French singer and guitarist -M- (Mathieu Chédid), a frequent collaborator of Malian pop singing duo Amadou & Mariam. On Mother Nature, Kidjo delivers not only an infectious, danceable transcontinental showcase for the African continent's musical influence on global traditions, but emphatically proclaims it a primary engine in pop's future.
Thom Jurek