Zeynab Habib (born Oloukèmi Zeynab Abibou; September 25, 1975) is a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

Beninese Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

singer of world music born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

, Ivory Coast. She won the

Kora Awards The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President Ha ...

in 2005 in the Category Best Female Artist in West Africa and has been

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

's National Goodwill Ambassador since 2007.

Biography

Zeynab's father was an electronics engineer and her mother was a trader. She is the eighth child to her parents and was raised in a large Muslim family with more than 16 other siblings. Growing up, Zeynab engaged herself in music related school competitions. She later enrolled at the General Education College of Allada in 1993. Although she completed the series A at her senior secondary school, she dropped out to pursue a career in music. She then started to make local stage appearances including hosting a Karaoke Bar at the Alex's Hotel in Cotonou, Benin for more than a year. Zeynab received international recognition for her music including from UNICEF. As of October 2015, she was the national ambassador for UNICEF in Benin. During a music recital in 2005, she caught the attention of the Super Quartz orchestra who later recruited her to sing for them. This opened up opportunity for her to meet and partner with notable musicians of that time including Fifi Rafiatou, Awilo Logomba, Jacky Rapon, Jimmy Hope, Nel Oliver (Fespam, Congo), Back Médio, KiriKanta and Madou Isbat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Zeynab Beninese women singers 1975 births Living people People from Abidjan Ivorian emigrants to Benin Yoruba women musicians Beninese Muslims Ivorian Muslims UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors