Rokia Traoré, progressive Afro rock

On her fifth album, Beautiful Africa, Rokia Traoré infuses intimate poems with energetic rock, profound blues and some rare heart and soul. RFI Musique interviewed the Malian artist.

African reggae

Alpha Blondy’s Mystic power

Singing about society in Côte d’Ivoire is no easy task. After a decade of crisis that has left the social fabric in tatters, Alpha Blondy’s hopeful new album, Mystic Power, is an invitation to “recycle” pain, trauma and conscience.

Malian music

Salif Keïta’s electro cool

Salif Keïta’s new album, Talé, put together with Gotan Project’s Philippe Cohen-Solal in Bamako, moves away from a pure “club” sound and takes its listeners into electro lands. RFI Musique spoke with the Malian musician.

World music

Daby Touré’s soothing sound

Straddling pop, French easy listening and world music, Daby Touré’s songs are a soothing balm for the soul. Lang(u)age is an intimate musical rendition of personal memories and multiple identities.

Groove

Sandra Nkaké, 3D singer

Oddball musician Sandra Nkaké’s second album, Nothing for Granted, is the original sound track of her imaginary motion picture world.

Malian music

Khaira Arby, Timbuktu diva

The singer from northern Mali, Khaira Arby, has a status on a level with Oumou Sangaré in her homeland. Despite a keen following in the United States, in France she remains largely unknown. Not for long though, since she is scheduled to perform at the Babel Med Festival in Marseille at the end of March.

Malian music

Super Biton de Ségou, an everlasting legend

More than twenty years after Mali’s artistic and cultural biennales hit the dust, we salute one of their most brilliant offspring: Super Biton de Ségou, decreed best band from 1970 to 1976. Still active, Super Biton continues to be the pride and joy of its hometown. RFI Musique met up with bandleader and eminent guitarist, Mama Cissoko.

Report

Festival sur le Niger in Ségou

Gathering 30,000 festival-goers over five days, the Festival sur le Niger, which has just run from 14 to 19 February, is a popular Malian event that places the town of Ségou on the country’s cultural map and puts the focus on local music.

Heritage

Opika Pende, African treasures

Jonathan Ward is not your regular vinyl record collector. During the day he works as an archivist, but his real passion is collecting 78s of African traditional and folk music recorded in the first half of the 20th century. The four-CD compilation he’s just released, entitled Opika Pende, or “be strong” in Lingala, brings some incredible artists and fascinating musical forms back to life.

Album Review

Seun Kuti, the prince of Afrobeat

Afrobeat conquered America, Europe and even Japan forty years after its creation. In Nigeria, Afrobeat’s birthplace, it lives on through Seun Kuti, a worthy successor to his father, Fela Kuti. Seun Kuti has recently released a second album From Africa With Fury : Rise.

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Cameroonian music

Macase reshuffle their act

They’ve performed their Bantu Groove at venues all round the world. Thirteen years after their first album, and despite losing several of the group’s charismatic members, Mascase are back centre stage. The band boasts a new line-up and some brand new tracks, but their desire to blend Bantu music with modern rhythms is unchanged.