Lupita Nyong’o and Angélique Kidjo on Storytelling, Racism and Surviving Industry Stereotyping
There are certain conversations that transcend the ordinary. Moments when two extraordinary voices come together and create something that resonates far beyond the room where they sit. This was the case when Angélique Kidjo and Lupita Nyong’o met at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s reimagined Arts of Africa galleries, as part of CNN’s Inside Africa’s 25th anniversary conversations.
Surrounded by centuries of artistic achievement, their dialogue has already been hailed as one of those rare and essential moments in popular culture.
The setting of their CNN dialogue itself, spoke volumes. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries stand as a testament to the continent’s profound creative legacy, displaying works that have influenced global art movements while telling stories of kingdoms, spirituality, and innovation. Here, amid Benin bronzes and ceremonial masks, two women who have conquered global stages on their own terms sat down to reflect on their journeys, the obstacles they’ve overcome, and the future they are helping to build.
Both women began by reflecting on where they were 25 years ago – a quarter century that has seen them rise to the pinnacle of their respective fields, but which began with uncertainty and discovery.
Confronting industry racism and other sterotypes
But perhaps the most powerful moments in their conversation came when both women spoke candidly about the racism and stereotyping they have faced in their respective industries – experiences that despite their success, continue to shape their choices.
Lupita , who won an Oscar for her feature film debut in 12 Years a Slave back in 2013, reveals how even the highest achievement in film, doesn’t shield Black African women from typecasting. When Angelique asks her how the Oscar win, impacted her career, Lupita’s answer is telling. While appreciating the honour of winning the coveted gong, the importance of the movie and role she played, she reveals:
“[The movie] meant so much and opened the doors wide open to do everything. But you know, what’s interesting is that after I won that Academy Award, you would think think, oh, I’m gonna get lead roles here and there. Instead, it was, ‘Oh, Lupita, we’d like you to play another movie where you are a slave, but this time you are on a slave ship Those are the kind of offers I was getting in the months after winning my Academy Award.”
The media scrutiny added another layer of pressure. “There were thinkpieces about: ‘Is this the beginning and end of this dark-skinned Black African woman’s career?’” she recalls. “I had to deafen myself to all those pontificators because, at the end of the day, I’m not a theory; I’m an actual person.”
She adds further: “… I also had to really have faith in my true worth, and so I had to be very deliberate about the roles I took on next. So I ended up having to say a lot of Nos, not knowing when my next paycheck was coming. I [therefore] had to wait for the opportunities that I felt were deserving of the of my experience, of the accolades I had received and I continue to have.”
“To do that, I like to be a joyful warrior for changing the paradigms of what it means to be African. An if that means that I work one job less a year to ensure that I’m not perpetuating the stereotypes that are expected of people from my continent, then let me do that,” she poignantly stressed.
Angélique on the other hand, shares a story that is both shocking and, sadly, familiar to many Black women in creative fields.
“Everything you said just give me flashbacks,” she tells Lupita in reaction adding:
“…when you are a black woman in the world of arts, God help you. When I started my first album, when we were doing the photo shoot for the cover and when we brought in a stylist, she went ‘why are you calling me to dress this woman? She’s African, don’t they walk naked in their countries?”
When a shocked Lupita reacts with “Oh no, did someone actually say that to you?” Angelique responds: “Yeah, and then I went and brought my zebra suit. And then the critics of music said its not African enough, its too modern. And I [was] like, so you want us to be like a piece in a museum? There’s no modernity in Africa?…its tiring, everytime they are asking you to fit into a stereotype.”
The casual dehumanization in these situations; the reduction of an entire continent to a racist caricatures; speak to the obstacles many African talents and creatives navigate in their careers, to this day.
The power of collective storytelling
As their conversation deepened, Angélique articulated a vision that goes beyond individual success to collective transformation. Her words carried the urgency of someone who has spent decades watching African stories be fragmented, appropriated, and misunderstood.
“Our stories are in pieces, and we cannot, I think profoundly, we cannot transform our continent if our stories are parcels,” she says, her passion evident. “How do we make Pan-Africanism a reality, not only in storytelling, but in arts, in economics, in science, in everything. How do we reclaim our own continent if we don’t start by knowing each other’s story?”
It’s a question that resonates across the African diaspora and an idea that wholeness requires connection, that knowing each other’s narratives is not just culturally enriching but politically and economically essential.
Lupitahas embraced this mission through her podcast work, finding in audio storytelling a way to bridge distances and build understanding. “I found that it was such an intimate way to change hearts and minds,” she says. “And I thought, God…I’m homesick. I would love to just be steeped in an African story for a moment. And oral storytelling is such a big part of our culture.”
Joyful Warriors
But rather than accepting these limitations, both women have made deliberate choices to expand what’s possible for those who come after them. Lupitaarticulated this philosophy with particular eloquence.
A joyful warrior, as Lupita put it, is a phrase captured something essential about both women’s approach to their craft. They refuse to be defined by bitterness or limitation, even as they acknowledge and fight against systemic barriers. Their joy is not naive; it’s strategic, powerful, and ultimately transformative.
As their conversation drew to a close, surrounded by artifacts that have survived centuries, both women embodied something crucial: that African creativity is not a relic of the past but a living, evolving force shaping global culture.
