Angelique Kidjo of Benin performs during the opening concert for the FIFA World Cup at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, South Africa, on June 10 (Hassan Amar/Associated Press)

Angelique Kidjo has returned to the music that inspired her while growing up in Benin in her new album Oyo.

The Grammy-winning artist, songwriter and activist says she returned to these powerful songs — from many cultural traditions — while dealing with the death of her father in 2008.

In an interview with Q, CBC's cultural affairs show, Kidjo said she felt "a void" after his death.

"At the funeral I was not able to feel closure because people came to the funeral to see the star, the artist, not the child weeping for her dad. It took me a good deal of courage to dig deep in my memory of my father," she said.

She credits her father with introducing her to James Brown and Otis Redding, as well as the African singers of the 1960s, such as Miriam Makeba.

Her father worked in the post office, yet his outlook was international, a fact Kidjo said she didn't realize until she was older.

"I wanted to do that album to thank my dad for being the father he was in Africa, by putting 10 children to school, buying uniforms, books and paying tuition and still having the energy and money to buy all those records and bring them home for us to understand and enjoy other people's culture," she said.

Kidjo said she thinks of her father as a man ahead of his time.

Ambassador for African music

Kidjo left Benin for Paris in 1983, when the then Communist government made her music career impossible. She now lives in the U.S., but thinks of herself still as an ambassador for African music.

One of the tracks on Oyo is Togo singer Bella Bellow's signature song Zelie, a tune Kidjo says she aspired to sing even when very young.

The song has tremendous "grace," Kidjo said. "Just grace. She was so graceful, she was so beautiful. That song Zelie is vocally very challenging and when you see her performing it it's … so easy. "

Bellow died in 1973 at age 27 in a car accident, which Kidjo said left her "mad at death."

Oyo also includes a version of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up, sung with Bono and John Legend, a song Kidjo said she chose to lend hope to the youth of the world.

A UNICEF Goodwill ambassador, she also works to promote education for girls in Africa through her Batonga Foundation. Kidjo said she thinks of this kind of activism as a responsibility for an artist.

"An artist is a citizen. You have to pay your tax somewhere. Why should I, because I'm an artist, be deprived of my right to say 'This is wrong, this is right.' We can do and we can do it together," she said.

"Every penny counts for the audience. 'If you don't care, why should I go see your face on any stage.'"

World Cup supporter

She vigorously defended South Africa as host of the FIFA World Cup, saying she feels she must speak out about the way Africa is "put down" by the Western media.

"Football has been so important to Africa. I grew up playing it with my brothers. I had seven brothers and I was youngest, and when they needed someone extra, I ended up in goal," Kidjo said.

"Dad told me do soccer, because it will teach you the ability to work together with other people — yes, work toward one goal.… Soccer is not about how much money you are making, it is about playing together with your brains and with your soul."

Kidjo performed during the opening concert for the World Cup. She was in Toronto for the Toronto Jazz Festival and goes on to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.