Why Joy Is a State of Mind | Angélique Kidjo | TED

People to that extent make me more humble. I don't even know, sometimes I say, where is the hole I can go to? And disappear and leave them alone." But they won't let me go. They say, "We want you to come see us and learn from yourself." But I learn more from these girls than from anyone else. The joy of being on stage is different. Plant seeds all over the world so that people see what they are capable of, what they are capable of. How many times after a concert do people come up to me and say: "Ange

lique

, how can I do it?

Shall we help?" Come here. Your neighbors. Start looking at them. You can volunteer your time for tasks, there are many things you can do in your country. I don't think Africa is the country where we need help. We don't need help. We need to collaborate". Femi: Did you warm up your voice today? Ange

lique

: Yes, I did. Femi: What do you sing to yourself to cheer yourself up? What do you sing that feels like, "Oh, that was better?" than Prozac.” Angelique: (Singing) (Laughs) We could sit here for days. Femi: I'm so glad you were ready. When you see your Grammys lined up, all shiny and extraordinary, I won't even say how many, because every time I do it, you get more and then.

This talk gets old, so a lot of the multiple Grammy Awards that I've won, when you look at them, you go, "Wow!" (Laughs) Are you feeling good? Angelique: It feels good and at the same time, as I said before, it is a responsibility. I mean, my first Grammy was nominated, it was in 1993, 1994. And the first Grammy I won. It was 2007. And I told people, 'Don't take the Grammys for granted. It's not about how many likes you have, it's about what you have to say, how you impact the world and how you change the music business. in its current

state

.

It is always at the center of everything I do. When I get ready to write new songs, I don't think about the Grammys. All I think about is how this song will help people. I know you're planning what you want to do next. For a lot of artists, it would be, you know, how you want to spend your retirement years, but you have unusual longevity in your family, so you still have another one. Do you have half of your life left? (laughs) We're going to an Angelique Kidjo Centennial party and you'll still say, "Let's go." Angelique: Yes, I'll run.

Femi: It sounds a bit strange. Talk about legacy, but what do you want from the people who follow your work, who admire your work, who find joy in your work? What do you want them to take away from it? Angelique: Well, what I want people to take away from my work is their own value, the value of people. We have many people who think they don't deserve anything. And it hurts me. And when you give birth to a child, when a human being leaves your body, everything changes. Priorities, what matters, you learn to go to the heart of things.

What I want people to remember is that you can fall underground. But you can always get up. No matter how difficult it is. Get up and live your life. You know, that's how we live. Femi: I love you. Angelique: Me too. From the first time I met her it was a love story. (The river)