Angelique Kidjo explains why she doesn't make political music

Celebrated Beninese singer and multiple Grammy Award winner, Angelique Kidjo, has spoken out against musicians who use their art to glorify or promote politicians and political parties.

In a candid conversation on the Female Poets Society podcast, Kidjo explained that she deliberately avoids making music for political figures because political power is fleeting. She warned that artists who tie their work to a particular regime risk losing their relevance once that regime leaves office.

“My father always used to say to us, especially to me as a singer, do not write music for any political party because they come and they go, and once they’re gone, you go with it,” she shared.

Encouraging her fellow artists to use their craft as a tool for truth and social consciousness, Kidjo added that musicians should serve as independent voices that speak for ordinary people rather than those in authority.

“Write your music with your opinions, be free writing your music. Don’t be sold to somebody because therefore, you don’t become the voice of the people anymore, you become the voice of the power. And when that power shifted, you’re off the window,” she recalled.

Kidjo, renowned for her activism and socially conscious lyrics, has long championed the idea that music should challenge injustice and inspire positive change rather than serve political interests.