Pamela Badjogo
Pamela Badjogo (born 3 December 1982) is an Afro-Jazz musician from Gabon and a former member of Les Amazones d'Afrique.
Pamela Badjogo | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | 3 December 1982 |
Occupation(s) | Musician; Singer |
Instruments | Voice; Guitar |
Associated acts | Les Amazones d'Afrique |
Website | https://www.pamelabadjogo.net/ |
Early Life
Badjogo was born in Libreville, Gabon on 3 December 1982, as a child she was a chorister at her church.[1] Shemoved to Bamako, Mali, in 2005 on a scholarship to study malaria.[2]
Career
Whilst living in Bamako, Badjogo began singing and recording in studios and collaborating with French producer Manjul.[2] In 2007, Badjogo was a finalist in the first edition of the musical reality show Case Sanga on Africable, winning the semi-final against the artist Cheick Siriman Cissoko.[3] In 2015 Bajogo crowd-funded her first solo album Mes Couleurs.[4] [5] In 2017 she performed at the closing ceremony for the Africa Cup of Nations.[6]
Badjogo moved to Lyons in 2017 to work on a new musical project with artists from Perigord.[7] On February 15, 2019, Pamela Badjogo performed in Lyon during the One Night for 2,500 Voices event at the Palais de la Mutualité in Lyon, a charity evening which aimed to raise funds for the benefit of research against paediatric cancer.[8]
Les Amazones d'Afrique
Badjogo was one of the original line-up of the Les Amazones d'Afrique. The group used music to confront issues affecting women, as Badjogo said: ‘We are sick of seeing women suffer because of violence ... In the family, in the war zones. We want it to stop.”[9] The group's first album, République Amazone, was a protest record explicitly addressing against the inequality and sexual violence faced by women.[10]
Discography
Singles
- Ngoko (2019)[13]
- Entend-il ? (2009) with Didier Awadi[14]
- République Amazone (2017) with Les Amazones d'Afrique[10]
Awards
Badjogo was a finalist for the RFI Discover Prize in 2016.[15]
Women's Rights
Badjogo is a vocal advocate for women's rights. As part of her performance for the Africa Cup of Nations, she and other artists, including Josey from Côte d'Ivoire, Rokia Traoré from Mali, Charlotte Dipanda and Coumba Gawlo Seck, presented a new composition called Pour nos sœurs et pour nos mères, to raise awareness of cancers that effect women.[6]
In April 2017, Pamela directed the “Moussoyayé Koba yé” (“It's a great thing to be a woman”) program, which is a collective of artists united against gender-based violence. The initiative was supported by the Embassy of Canada and UN Women and brought together over twenty artists including Rokia Traoré , rapper Amy Yerewolo, Doussou Bagayoko, providing a concert.[16]
In January 2018, in Cameroon, Badjogo appeared in Douala, alongside other influential figures like Sally Nyolo, to give a workshop on the empowerment of women.[17]
References
- Radio, Jazz (2016-02-24). "Jazz Radio". Jazz Radio (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "L'afro jazz coloré de Pamela Badjogo". RFI Musique (in French). 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Afribone.com:: Case Sanga 2ème Edition: Sous le signe de l'intégration des peuples". www.afribone.com. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- MALIACTU. "«Mes Couleurs», le premier album solo de Pamela Badjogo | Maliweb". Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Les finalistes du Prix Découvertes RFI 2016". RFI Musique (in French). 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Café Concert / PAMELA BADJOGO". www.institutfrancais-gabon.com. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Sarlat : un nouveau groupe qui fusionne l'Afrique et le Périgord". SudOuest.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- E/MAGINAIR. "Une Nuit pour 2500 Voix au Palais de la Mutualité de Lyon". www.enfants-cancers-sante.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- Brinkhurst-Cuff, Charlie (2017-02-20). "'The album is a love letter to men': meet feminist supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "West African all-female collective Les Amazones d'Afrique unveil new LP". The Vinyl Factory. 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- Reporter, Le. "maliweb.net - Révélée lors de Case Sanga I : Pamela Badjogo présente «Mes Couleurs»" (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- KissKissBankBank. "Kaba - 2ème album de Pamela Badjogo". KissKissBankBank (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- Music, Pan African (2019-12-09). "Pamela Badjogo unveils new music video 'Ngoka'". Pan African Music. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- Entend-il, retrieved 2020-02-09
- "Les finalistes du Prix Découvertes RFI 2016". RFI Musique (in French). 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Les artistes Maliens s'unissent pour mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes". ONU Femmes (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- ""ENTREPREUNARIAT ET AUTONOMISATION DES FEMMES AFRICAINES"". AFRIKNEWS7 (in French). 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-09.