The concepts of “new birth” and “new discovery”, or Fifiawoto as it is called in her native Ewe language, has become an ever-evolving philosophy, explored and manifested by Abot.
It also happens to be use of her grandmother’s name Fifiawoto.
She does this by way of contemplative practice, which over time, has come to serve as the basis of her work.
Through music, Abot challenges and provokes her listener to question themselves and the limitations of their inherited ideas of class, gender, and race.
Swinging vicariously through hip hop, Afrobeat, reggae and soul - evident on her first EP, named Fyfya Woto, Abot creates a certain kind of discomfort that makes one realise and question the “taught” judgements passed from one generation to the next.
With her infectious energy, originality and power, Jojo forces even the most cynical listener to empathise with relatable and unfamiliar experiences and feelings.
Off stage, Abot turns to Nairobi, Kenya, where she founded Africa-Na-Ladi, a multimedia collective that aims to create a community of young underground and alternative African artists.
Afri-Na-Ladi is Abot putting her money where her mouth is. Having recently completed her tour with Lauryn Hill and an incubator programme at New York City’s New Museum, Abot returned to Africa for a few months where she put together a successful exhibition in Joburg, named Manifestations of a God.
This exhibition, which took place in November, further explored the theme of self, as a re-imagination of the feminine as divine, powerful and Godly in the process of self-actualisation.
Exploring the unspoken harmonies that exist between the feminine energy and the masculine in the spaces between a gentrifying world and a perceived old world, Abot seeks to rediscover self and one’s role in this universal plane as it relates to evolving and corroding identities, spirituality and community/culture.
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