wordsofAzia Weaves Ancestral Wisdom Into Debut EP MODERN WIHEGOU
wordsofAzia is a French-born artist of Ivorian heritage whose music bridges continents, cultures, and generations. Rooted in the traditional Bhété rhythms of her mother's village in Ivory Coast and enriched by jazz, soul, and spiritual reflection, her debut EP MODERN WIHEGOU is a bold and deeply personal statement on heritage, identity, and feminine divinity.
Currently based between Paris, London, and Abidjan, Azia began the project in her mother’s village, where the absence of maternal presence sparked a powerful desire to reconnect with her lineage. “It was in that space that I began to reflect deeply on how we could incorporate more elements from our culture into our music,” she shares. The result is a sound that merges ancestral knowledge with modern artistry—AfroJazz meeting indigenous Bhété chants, storytelling traditions layered with soul, and sampled voices of her mother and grandmother woven through new sonic textures.
MODERN WIHEGOU was written and recorded entirely on Azia’s portable studio, allowing her music to mirror the spiritual and geographical journey she’s been on. Singing in both English and Bhété, she taps into a strong oral tradition where songs are vessels of memory and healing. Tracks like “Lagô” (meaning “God” in Bhété), written in Dakar during a time of deep spiritual reflection, reveal how faith and inner alignment shape her creative process.
Since 2024, wordsofAzia has released five singles accompanied by striking visuals, collectively amassing over a million streams across platforms. Her sound is a unique fusion of AfroJazz, folk, world, and alternative jazz, infused with poetry, spirituality, and a reverence for matriarchal lineage.
At its core, MODERN WIHEGOU is about creating bridges: between generations, between the sacred and the contemporary, between identity and expression. Azia hopes her music inspires others to “be aligned. Aware of your history. In tune with your identity. And willing to learn—about the world around us, about people, about the love in their eyes.”
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