OREMI
TRACKLIST
Introduction (0:38)
Voodoo Child / Slight Return (3:49)
Never Know (4:43)
Babalao (4:31)
Loloye (3:52)
Itche Koutche (5:57)
Open Your Eyes (4:28)
Yaki Yaki (3:41)
Give It Up (4:21)
Oremi (3:48)
Orubaba (4:17)
No Worry (3:41)
// ISLAND RECORDS
Album Available
Afro-pop star Angelique Kidjo's last album of the 1990s was her best yet. Titled Oremi, which means "friends," her fifth album was a tour de force with many great collaborations, including hip-hop star Kelly Price ("Open Your Eyes"), Robbie Neville, Cassandra Wilson (the duet "Never Know"), and Branford Marsalis. The first CD in a proposed "American" trilogy, Oremi explores the connections between African music and R&B. The album begins with a reinterpretation of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child," perhaps the best cover of his material ever. Oremi, however, is not simply a stylistic album; higher consciousness and political sentiments are here too, especially with the impassioned plea in "Babalao" to care for the world's youth. This album is Angelique Kidjo's strongest, most inspired one. Oremi is sexy, thrilling, and powerful.