The collective use their music and influence to campaign for gender equality and bring their mission of overcoming violence against women closer to reality: "We are sick of seeing women suffer because of violence. In the family, in the war zones. We want it to stop.” says Pamela Badjogo.
Every member of the group has been touched by gender inequality in some way: Oumou Sangaré experienced polygamy and forced marriage, whilst 36 year-old Nneka explained: "I have personally had my own fair share of abuse and domestic violence. Hence I felt that connection to these women and to the project. You are there with people who are talented, who have something to say. Who you can listen to, who you can learn from. Most of them are older women who have had so much impact on their society, or on their hometowns. Just looking at that, it definitely inspired me. It gave me hope as well: I’m not out there alone. ‘It’s OK. Nneka you too can work, you can be a strong woman, yet you can also be a family woman.’"
The name of the collective, Les Amazones d’Afrique, pays homage to the Dahomey Amazons, women warriors who roamed modern-day Benin for the better part of 200 years protecting west African borders, and the first all-female pop music group in Guinea, @Les Amazones de Guinée.
On March 10th, the supergroup will release their debut album: République Amazone. I Play Kora is the album's lead single.
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