Zeynab Habib (born Oloukèmi Zeynab Abibou; September 25, 1975) is a

Beninese Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Yoruba singer of

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. She won the

Kora Awards The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President H ...

in 2005 in the Category Best Female Artist in West Africa and has been

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

's National Goodwill Ambassador since 2007.

Biography

Zeynab Habib's father was an electronics engineer and her mother was a trader. She is the eighth child to her parents and was raised in a large Muslim family, with more than 16 other siblings. Growing up, Zeynab engaged herself in music related school competitions. She later enrolled at the General Education College of

Allada Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada ...

in 1993. Although she completed the series A at her senior secondary school, she dropped out to pursue a career in music. She then started to make local stage appearances including hosting a

karaoke bar A is a type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Asia, the United States and Canada. It originated in Japan, and is now popular worldwide, particularly in Asia. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually ...

at Alex's Hotel in

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

, Benin, for more than a year. Zeynab has received international recognition for her music, including from UNICEF. As of October 2015, she was the national ambassador for UNICEF in Benin. During a music recital in 2005, she caught the attention of the Super Quartz orchestra, who later recruited her to sing for them. This opened up opportunity for her to meet and partner with notable musicians of that time, including Fifi Rafiatou, Awilo Longomba, Jacky Rapon,

Jimi Hope Koffi Senaya (12 October 1956, Lomé – 5 August 2019, Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents i ...

, Nel Oliver (Fespam, Congo), Back Médio, KiriKanta and Madou Isbat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Zeynab Beninese women singers 1975 births Living people People from Abidjan Ivorian emigrants to Benin Yoruba women musicians Yoruba musicians Yoruba-language singers of Benin Beninese Muslims Ivorian Muslims UNICEF goodwill ambassadors