Rokia Traoré

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Rokia Traoré (born January 24, 1974 in Kolokani , Mali ) is a singer from Mali.

Rokia Traoré at the Festival du Bout du Monde 2013

Life

Rokia Traoré belongs to the Bambara ethnic group , but does not come from the endogamous , traditional musician caste ( jeli ). Since her father was in the diplomatic service, she traveled to Algeria , Saudi Arabia , France and Belgium in her youth and was thus shaped by a variety of musical impressions. Although her parents did not want her to be a musician, she trained her voice during her high school in Bamako and made her first public appearances. In 1997 Traoré met the musician Ali Farka Touré , who was an important pioneer for her. In 1998 she recorded her first album.

On March 3, 2020, Traoré was arrested on a European arrest warrant at a Paris airport and taken to a prison near Paris, even though she was traveling with a diplomatic passport . She was on her way to a court hearing in Belgium where she is accused of disregarding her Belgian ex-husband's custody of their daughter, which is considered child abduction . She went on a hunger strike after being arrested . Numerous personalities from the cultural industry stand up for them. She was released at the end of March but is under official supervision until she leaves for Belgium. Malian authorities had previously granted her custody.

Works

Rokia Traoré mostly sings in her mother tongue, Bambara . She describes her music as contemporary music from Mali. In 1997 she was awarded the RFI Prize of Radio France Internationale and celebrated as "African Discovery of the Year". Her texts focus on social issues. She sings about relationships and love, but also about the position of women in modern African society and about the misery of children in need. In 1998 her first album, Mouneïssa , was released. It was praised for its combination of different traditions from their homeland. It has been sold more than 40,000 times in Europe. Two years later the album Wanita was released, which was named one of the "Albums of the Year" by the New York Times . In 2003 Bowmboï appeared . It won the prestigious World Music Award from the BBC . In 2008 Traoré released the album Tchamantché. On their 2016 album Né So, John Paul Jones and Devendra Banhart were guests .

Rokia Traoré at the Festival du Bout du Monde 2013

Discography

  • 1998: Mouneïssa
  • 2000: Wanita
  • 2003: Bowmboï
  • 2008: Tchamantché
  • 2013: Beautiful Africa
  • 2016: Né Sun

Web links

Commons : Rokia Traoré  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. rja: Imprisonment of Rokia Traoré: A world star in prison. deutschlandfunkkultur.de from March 15, 2020, accessed on March 20, 2020
  2. Joseph Hanimann: Malian singer in prison - detention with diplomatic passport. sueddeutsche.de from March 19, 2020, accessed on March 20, 2020
  3. ^ Laura Snapes: Malian musician Rokia Traoré freed from French prison pending transfer to Belgium. theguardian.com of March 26, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020