Gabonese-born singer continues her meteoric rise

Gabonese-born singer extraordinaire, Pamela Badjogo, is on a mission to share her music with as many people as possible.

Born in Libreville, Badjogo began her career as a backing singer for artists such as Salif Keita, Oumou Sangaré, and Tiken Jah Fakoly, and her rise has been on the up and up since going solo in 2016.

On Wednesday night, she performed with Beninois-French singer-songwriter, Angélique Kidjo, at the Nuits de Fourvière open air festival in the French city of Lyon.

Badjogo, who has been based in the city since 2017, said she was delighted to be able to showcase her musical world, inspired by her multicultural heritage.

She performed some of her own songs, including those from her third album, Yiêh, on which she sings in bakaningui, a Gabonese dialect.

"Now we're in the middle of our tour. Not all artists have the chance to tour, but we have the chance to do so, so I'm really grateful,” she said.

Artist and mother, Badjogo is living proof that this combination is far from impossible. A vocal advocate for women’s rights, she said she was pleased that the world of show business has evolved to meet the demands that come with being both.

“That’s one of the things we denounced. And today, I'm very happy that most programmers  understand that you can be a mother and an artist at the same time,” she said.

“So, if I can't do my sound check at 2pm because I need to drop my daughter off at school, they understand, and that's also one of the victories of feminism".

An activist committed to a number of causes, Badjogo is patron of the Karama school for the education of girls in Mali.

She is also ambassador for "Fées-ministres", a French collective that supports women after domestic abuse and sexual assault.