After spending the ’90s amassing fans across the globe, world-music luminary Angélique Kidjo delivered an ambitious fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and African music with Oremi (Friends). She sets the bar high with her dreamy R&B cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” while “Open Your Eyes” and “Itche Koutche” offer a life-affirming mix of multilingual lyrics, funky beats, and vibrant vocals—plus contributions from R&B singer Kelly Price and saxophonist Branford Marsalis, respectively.