Faces of Wisconsin: Jidenna
- elanarubin
- Apr 1, 2022
- 1 min read
Rapper and Afrobeat Artist, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson, was born in Wisconsin Rapids, WI on May 4th, 1985. He is a first-generation West African and Nigerian-American. His father Oliver Mobisson was of Nigerian Igbo descent, and Professor at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Jidenna spent several years of his childhood in Nigeria before his family moved back to the US when he was 6.
Jidenna feels it’s important for African-Americans to visit Africa and develop their global Black identity.
“When a group of decentralized people are centralized around an idea, this is historically proven to create renaissances, enlightenments followed by some sort of power shift in the world,” Jidenna says. “It’s happened to every group of people, and I want that for us.”
Jidenna has been the face of BirthrightAFRICA, a traveling study program launched in 2015 for people ages 13-30. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Biography and Portrait by Lana Holman.
You can check out two great songs of Jidenna here:
Yoga by Janelle Monáe featuring Jidenna. https://youtu.be/0OkB6p_FZAw
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