Djin Djin

Kidjo, Angelique – Djin Djin
Reviewed by Sadie O., 4/14/07
The latest from the most famous diva in Africa – with lots of amazing guests. She seems to have abandoned the mellow Brazilian tone and is coming up with a wide range of African/pop/jazz/etc crossover. Although this is very much a pop diva album, she brings an obvious intelligence to the music, and her voice is always distinctive and incredibly strong. I’d been a bit disappointed with her previous couple of records, but this is a winner.
No FCCs, although ifi you listen to track 6 too closely you will cry – I did… My faves are 3, 9, and 13, with 7 and 10 very close seconds.
1. 3:31 **midtempo, bouncy, joyous-sounding hilife. Nice crossover sound – slick production, but plenty of African instrumentation.
2. 4:18 *starts with some nice hand drums. Midtempo swingy, relaxed jazz/pop groove. Ends with more hand drums and pants.
3. 4:08 ****midtempo highly syncopated bounce, really nice combinations of vocals – and yet, it is a Stones cover, in the vein of her Voodoo Chile cover a few years back. Damn good.
4. 3:24 **luscious acoustic guitar. Midtempo and very relaxed and pretty groove.
5. 3:44 **starts with spoken interchange between Amadou and Mariam, then uptempo hilife. Somehow both relaxed and high speed, very lush.
6. 5:05 *thumb piano and ethereal noises, guitar becomes more pronounced and recognizable. Slow and extremely sad (about a woman starving to death in Somalia…)
7. 3:56 ***bells and guitars intro, midtempo combination of hilife and Reggae, very strong African musicality, sweet guest vocals by Ziggy. Talking drums and handclaps – sweet…
8. 4:34 **midtempo with syncopation, thumb pianos, danceable. Great bass sound.
9. 3:35 ****midtempo Arab-Andalusian sound, which is unusual for Kidjo. Very pretty indeed.
10. 3:29 ***starts with several voices and no instruments, then midtempo funky hilife. Great beat, rich instrumentation and chorus.
11. 3:29 *starts with Kidjo ululating solo, then pretty, very African guitars, downtempo and downbeat swing – almost a lullaby.
12. 3:41 **midtempo swingy hilife.
13. 4:54 ****ultra sweet solo vocals, vocal percussion, vocal backing. Very limited instrumentation – most of the very lush sound is vocals. Neet! No, as the song goes along let me revise that appraisal – Stunning!