- Label: 'Real World Records'
- Genre: 'Dance'
- Release Date: '18th February 2022'
Our Rating:
Rokia Koné is one of Mali’s most popular female singers where she is known as the Rose of Bamako. She sings in Bamana, one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa.
Her latest album is an unlikely collaboration with Irish-born, California-based rock producer Jacknife Lee who has produced stadium filling bands U2, R.E.M and The Killers. Lee has and worked on Taylor Swift’s multi-million selling 'Red'.
Koné was part of an acclaimed feminist supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique in 2017 which is how she first crossed Lee’s radar.
As well as producing, Lee adds keyboards, guitars and drumbeats but it still seems a bit of cheek to share top billing given that the striking Koné is obviously the main attraction. Due to the pandemic, the two didn’t even meet in person while making the album.
Lee has to downsize the bigness of the production (if not his ego) to emphasize the subtle power of the vocals. He admits to seeking out a challenging situation where he had to trust his instincts rather than rely on tried and tested methods.
This is ostensibly dance music albeit with serious messages behind the pulsing rhythms. For example, the title Bi Ye Tulonba Ye means ‘Today Is a Great Party’ but is apparently a call for unity and an end to disagreements.
Gender issues are central to the songs. In interviews, Koné has spoken out about lack of access to education for girls and conjugal violence at the hands of violent husbands and says “ I call on men to get involved in works that protect and make women happy.”
The video for the song Kurunba is set in a London nightclub was directed and choreographed by Zambia-born dance artist Kennedy Junior Muntanga focuses on the high-energy beats. The English subtitles make it clear that this is not just a hedonistic disco number as Koné denounces the patriarchal customs of exclusion faced by women when they have finished raising their husband’s children.
N’yanyan contains a line that translates as “This life is passing/It’s only a moment in time”. The message seems clear: our time here is short so while we should dance and enjoy ourselves this does not mean we need be blind to deep-rooted social and cultural problems.
