Alpha Blondy

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Alpha Blondy (2007)
Alpha Blondy during a 2008 festival in France

Alpha Blondy (born January 1, 1953 in Dimbokro , Ivory Coast ; actually Seydou Koné ) is one of the most successful reggae bands in West Africa with his band Solar System .

Life

Alpha Blondy is the son of a Christian and a Muslim and comes from the Dioula people . During his school days in Odienné , he founded his first band Atomic Vibrations .

In 1973 he moved to neighboring Liberia after being expelled from school . Since then he has sung mostly in English. He traveled to the United States in 1976, where he studied commerce and English at Columbia University in New York. There he got to know the Rastafarian movement that influenced him. He made his first appearances in New York with the reggae band Monyaka . After Alpha Blondy had produced six titles with a Jamaican producer in the late 1970s, this disappeared with the tapes, whereupon Alpha Blondy suffered a nervous breakdown. Alpha Blondy then returned to Abidjan , but was initially admitted to a mental hospital.

In the continuation of his career he helped Roger Fulgence Kassy , who made it possible for him to appear in the television program Première chance . Only after his return to the Ivory Coast did Alpha Blondy choose his stage name. In 1983 he released his first album Jah Glory , which he recorded with musicians from Ghana . The first single, Brigadier Sabari , dealt with police violence and was very successful. The album won three gold records within the first year . In 1985 he first appeared in Europe.

His music could be described as pop- compatible Afro-Reggae, with clear African, European and Caribbean influences. His more recent works are increasingly based on roots reggae . In his lyrics he addresses war, kleptocracy and ignorance - from “Brigadier Sabary” in the eighties to “Bloodshed in Africa” and “Séchez Vos Larmes” to “Maclacla Macloclo” in his last album.

The album Jerusalem was produced together with the Wailers in the Tuff Gong recording studio . Alpha Blondy sings his lyrics in Hebrew , English , French , Arabic and some West African languages ​​(such as Baule and Dioula ). It is also noteworthy that he always carries a Star of David , a Bible and a Koran with him on his tours .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
AT AT CH CH
1994 Dieu AT27 (8 weeks)
AT 		-
1996 Grand Bassam Zion Rock AT44 (3 weeks)
AT 		-
2000 Elohim - CH93 (2 weeks)
CH
2002 Merci AT66 (2 weeks)
AT 		-

More studio albums

  • 1981: Jah Glory!
  • 1984: Cocody Rock !!!
  • 1985: Apartheid Is Nazism
  • 1986: Jerusalem
  • 1987: revolution
  • 1989: The Prophets
  • 1991: SOS Guerre Tribale
  • 1992: Masada
  • 1998: Yitzhak Rabin
  • 2007: Jah Victory
  • 2011: vision
  • 2013: Mystic Power
  • 2015: Positive Energy
  • 2018: Human Race

Live albums

  • 1993: Live Au Zenith
  • 1995: Paris Bercy

Compilations

  • 1993: The Best Of Alpha Blondy
  • 1995: Rasta Poué / Jah Glory!
  • 1996: The Best Of Alpha Blondy
  • 1997: The Very Best Of Alpha Blondy
  • 2003: Cocody Rock !!! / Apartheid Is Nazism
  • 2004: L'Essentiel
  • 2004: Radical Roots From The Emperor Of African Reggae
  • 2005: Akwaba, The Very Best of Alpha Blondy

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
AT AT
1994 Heal Me
Dieu 		AT27 (3 weeks)
AT

More singles

  • 1982: Brigadier Sabari (Opération Coup De Poing)
  • 1983: Rasta Poué
  • 1984: Cocody Rock !!!
  • 1985: Apartheid Is Nazism
  • 1986: Travailler C'est Trop major
  • 1987: Sweet Fanta Diallo
  • 1989: Banana
  • 1992: Yéyé Remix
  • 1992: Rendez-Vous
  • 1996: Ya Fohi
  • 1998: New Dawn
  • 1999: Journalistes En Danger (Démocrature)
  • 2005: Yana De Fohi
  • 2007: Jah Victory
  • 2007: Vuvuzela

Web links

Commons : Alpha Blondy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: AT CH
personal data
SURNAME Alpha Blondy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koné, Seydou (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ivorian reggae musician
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Dimbokro , Ivory Coast