Pamela Badjogo (born 3 December 1982) is an

Afro-Jazz African jazz may refer to: * Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz, a Congolese band often referred to as "African Jazz" * A style of music also known as Ethio-jazz, exemplified by Mulatu Astatke * South African jazz South African jazz is the jazz of S ...

musician from

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

and a former member of ''

Les Amazones d'Afrique ''Les Amazones d'Afrique'' is a contemporary world music supergroup formed in Mali in 2015 featuring Kandia Kouyaté, Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo (; born July 14, 1960), known as Angéli ...

.''

Early life

Badjogo was born in

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

, Gabon on 3 December 1982, as a child she was a chorister at her church. Shemoved to Bamako, Mali, in 2005 on a scholarship to study malaria.

Career

Whilst living in Bamako, Badjogo began singing and recording in studios and collaborating with French producer Manjul. 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. In 2015 Bajogo crowd-funded her first solo album ''Mes Couleurs.'' In 2017 she performed at the closing ceremony for the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

. Badjogo moved to Lyons in 2017 to work on a new musical project with artists from Perigord. 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.

Les Amazones d'Afrique

Badjogo was one of the original line-up of the

. 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." The group's first album, ''République Amazone,'' was a protest record explicitly addressing against the inequality and sexual violence faced by women.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Mes Coleurs'' (2015)' * ''Kaba'' (2020)

Singles

* Ngoko (2019) * ''Entend-il ?'' (2009) with Didier Awadi * ''République Amazone'' (2017) with

Awards

Badjogo was a finalist for the RFI Discover Prize in 2016.

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 Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Rokia Traoré Rokia Traoré (born 24. January 1974) is a Malian-born singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. ''Bowmboï'' (2003) won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004 and ''Tchama ...

from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. 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. 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 Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply as ...

. The initiative was supported by the Embassy of Canada and

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

and brought together over twenty artists including Rokia Traoré , rapper Amy Yerewolo, Doussou Bagayoko, providing a concert. In January 2018, in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, Badjogo appeared in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

, alongside other influential figures like

Sally Nyolo Born in the Lekié region of Cameroon in 1965, Sally Nyolo left her homeland at the age of 13 to settle in Paris where she has lived since. Nyolo started her professional career in 1982, first as a backup-singer working with numerous French and Afr ...

, to give a workshop on the empowerment of women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badjogo, Pamela Living people Gabonese musicians Gabonese women Gabonese activists Gabonese singers 1982 births 21st-century Gabonese people