Angelique Kidjo – Hope!! (Parlophone/Warner Music, 2026)
Angélique Kidjo’s Hope!!, her joyful 16-track Afropop set spiced with neosoul, Afrobeats and other popular music influences features a wide range of collaborators, including Pharrell Williams, Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson, IZA, and PJ Morton. Pharrell produced three songs. Their collaboration began after Pharrell invited Kidjo to perform at his Grace For The World concert in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City in September 2025. That meeting led to three original songs written and produced in Pharrell’s Paris studio with Kidjo’s voice and style in mind.
Among them, “For Me” features Charlie Wilson and focuses on self-celebration in the face of adversity. “No Stopping Us” grew out of a conversation between Kidjo and Pharrell about social change. Meanwhile, “Bando,” which also features Quavo and vocals from Pharrell, draws on the slang term for an abandoned house and points to the street origins of popular trends.
Elsewhere, the album is dedicated to Kidjo’s late mother, Yvonne. According to Kidjo, her mother’s favorite song was the moving “Malaika,” which closes the album in an orchestral version arranged by Derrick Hodge and featuring French singer Florent Pagny.
Recorded in Paris and Los Angeles over the past three years, Hope!! also includes contributions from The Cavemen on “I’m On Fire,” Fally Ipupa on “Nadi Balance,” Sheila Maurice-Grey of Kokoroko, Dadju on “Superwoman,” and Diamond Platnumz on “Kakua.” In addition, Brazilian artist IZA appears on the “Oyaya.”
The album also features “Sunlight To My Soul,” written by Diane Warren, as well as performances by the Soweto Gospel Choir, who previously worked with Kidjo at a 2003 Nelson Mandela benefit concert.
Kidjo said the project reflects a message of hope and human connection at a time of growing division. In that spirit, the album continues a career that has paired music with activism, including her work through the Batonga Foundation and as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Kidjo’s previous album was her 2021 Grammy-winning album Mother Nature.
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Author: Madison Quinn
