Earlier this month, Benin-born artist Hubert Sodoganji, popularly known as Amémé, released his remix of five-time Grammy award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo’s 30-year-old iconic track Agolo. The significant cultural connection and collaboration, as both artists are from the West African nation of Benin, has allowed Sodoganji to house his distinct brand of Afro-house to the track, which for him emphasizes the importance of bridging generational gaps in music.
“Hubert or Amémé, what may we call you?”
“That’s a good question,” Sodoganji laughs in his hotel room in sunny Cape Town, South Africa, wearing a bright pink t-shirt, as he sits for a chat on Zoom with FORBES AFRICA. “Honestly, people just choose whatever they like, because Hubert is my first name, but it’s also like my European name. Amémé is my middle name given to me by my grandmother and it’s my African name. When I decided to go full-time into music, that’s when I knew that I was going to focus on something inspired by my African roots.”
Before gaining global recognition between 2019 and 2020, from Monday to Friday, Sodoganji worked in the finance sector, in banking, in New York City. On weekends, he honed in on his skills as a DJ playing gigs around the city.
That came to a stop when he decided to pursue his passion full-time, leaving his corporate job to integrate fully into the creative economy.
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“A lot of people around me, including my extended family, were a bit confused,” he says. “They were like ‘you’re going to go and try something that is not stable when you have something stable already’.
“But for me, it was always about finding my true self. When I moved to New York, I went to school, I graduated, and I worked at a bank. And I moved up quite quickly throughout the ranks. So, I had a really good job but I was not there; there was always a void inside me.”
The early stages of the move to music involved bringing his African roots to the work he put out. The unique collaboration of chants, drums, African musical culture, impeccable selection, performance, and French house all came together to formulate the sound he was seeking.
“It’s like a spiritual thing. It belongs in you really,” he says. “You feel like it belongs to you. There’s a sense of identity that comes along with it. For me, music is an identity because when I think about African electronic music, and in our space, it just speaks to my soul.”
Sodoganji feels there is more work that he has done for the continent, especially when it comes to educating audiences globally on African sound. Growing up in Benin, Sodoganji says electronic music “was never a thing”.
Not any more, as according to the IMS Business Report by Mark Mulligan and MIDiA Research for IMS Ibiza 2024, the electronic music industry is now valued at $11.8 billion with revenue growth of 17% during 2023.
“A lot of people always ask me how I got into electronic music and it was because of my brother, because he went to Paris for school and came back and exposed me to the music,” Sodoganji says. “But I’m happy that I’m kind of also on a mission to bring a certain level of information to both sides. So, I get to share my West African heritage to the electronic music world.”
Sodoganji has released hit singles such as Pliva (in collaboration with Jaimie Jones), Power (with Kosmo Kint), and Wait for You (a single with Franc Fala), which has gained him attention in the electronic music space.
This is what gave him the courage to get his team to make contact with Angelique Kidjo’s team to see if there was a possibility for collaboration. They unfortunately could not accommodate Sodoganji at the time. It was only a year later when Kidjo sent him a direct message on Instagram requesting to speak more about a possible partnership.
“I could not believe it,” Sodoganji exclaims. “I was blown away.”
In 1994, Kidjo released Agolo which not only marked her debut in triple j’s Hottest 100 (at #99 in the 1994 countdown) but also earned her first Grammy nomination thanks to another eye-catching video.
“I loved working with Amémé on this brand-new version of Agolo,” Kidjo posted on X on Friday following the release of the remix. “This song holds such a special place in my heart, and giving it a second life 30 years later feels like a full circle moment! Thank you Amémé, you did an amazing job with this new version!”
“I always believe that history is a very critical part of our society because history allows us to know where we are from,” Sodoganji says. He believes that collaborations like this are important as they help bridge the generational gap but also serve as a reminder that African music was always great.
“African music has always been there. African music has always been dope. African music has always defined world music. Maybe back then, there was not enough light on it, but today, with technology, that’s not the case anymore.”
Sodoganji believes that the key to the continued success of African artists is through collaborations, which is why he would like to see more fusion between artists in the future, especially with Afrobeat artists coming into the Afro-house genre.
When asked what advice he would give to his younger self, he concludes: “I don’t think I would give myself advice, because I was naive enough to dream. Being able to dream and be naive can push you forward, because then you’re not jaded, you’re still able to dream and know that your dreams are possible.”
Any regrets leaving the corporate world?
Sodoganji laughs, “What do you think?”
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