Zeynab Habib: the Yoruba voice modernizing Beninese tradition

Born in Côte d’Ivoire in 1975 and raised in Benin among more than sixteen siblings, Zeynab Habib left her studies to follow a musical calling that would take her from the stages of Cotonou to Africa’s biggest venues, from the Kora Award to UNICEF, passing through Bolodjo, that Yoruba dance she transformed into a cultural phenomenon.¹

Composer, interpreter and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Benin since 2007, she puts her voice at the service of Yoruba culture and the cause of children².

In brief

Key dates

From Karaoke to international stages

Oloukèmi Zeynab Abibou grew up in a large Muslim family, eighth of a sibling group of more than eighteen children³. Her father is an electronics engineer and her mother a merchant. From childhood, she became passionate about school music competitions. In 1993, at sixteen, she enrolled in the Collège d’Éducation Générale d’Allada but eventually abandoned her studies to dedicate herself to music. The turning point came in 1995, during the cultural days of school competitions, where she discovered the Super Quartz orchestra⁴. She hosted a karaoke bar at the Alex Hotel in Cotonou, then joined the group to rub shoulders with many international artists.

A voice at the service of Yoruba culture

In 2002, Zeynab released Intori — which means “Why” in Yoruba — a first album of fourteen tracks⁵. In 2004, D’un endroit à l’autre, also composed of fourteen tracks, benefited from the collaboration of Congolese singer Lokua Kanza. The track “Enfant” featured on this album was nominated in two categories at the Kora Awards in South Africa. The consecration arrived in 2005, when she won the trophy for Best Female Artist of West Africa at the Kora Awards⁶.

Return and renewal

After Olukémi in 2011, Zeynab experienced a period of musical retirement⁷. She made a notable comeback in 2016 with “I no go die,” which reached number one on iTunes in several African countries. She embarked on a European tour and opened the concert for Maître Gims in Ouagadougou. In 2017, she co-created with Angélique Kidjo a song denouncing child marriage, produced by UNICEF alongside seven other Beninese artists. From 2020 to 2022, she multiplied collaborations: nomination for the Afrimma Awards with “Waa” featuring Togolese Santrinos Raphael, followed by the singles “On force pas l’amour” with Fanicko, “Gentleman,” and “Finale” in 2022.

Major works

Legacy

Zeynab Habib carries on her shoulders the density of a vast and millenary Yoruba culture. She chose not to take refuge in a frozen folklore but to transform Guèlèdè and Bolodjo into vehicles for contemporary creation. Through her commitment to UNICEF, she showed that music is a weapon against injustice. In 2017, in a video produced by UNICEF, she sang: “A little girl is still a child. She cannot be a mother or a bride. Let her grow to live a fulfilled life.”²

With more than 51 singles and three albums, Zeynab Habib continues to make African stages dance¹.

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