Akpon Amma McKen has been singing orisha music for three decades. She’s respected and sought after internationally for her mastery of the form. In 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Mcken a National Heritage Fellowship, honoring her achievements in the Yoruba musical arts.
“This is from our heart,” McKen says of music devoted to the gods. “To me, you’re singing a history. It would have to be energy that (the orisha are) feeling [when I sing]. Energy, and vibration from your heart.”
McKen is a priestess of Yemaya. Here, she sings to her orisha on a song from her CD Alaako Oso. With this album, McKen became the first black American woman akpon to produce a musical recording of the traditional songs.
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