Kimi Djabaté (born January 20, 1975 in Tabato,

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

) is a

Bissau-Guinean Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

Afro-beat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rh ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician. Based out of Lisbon, Portugal, he continues to be one of the contemporary links in a chain of West African music that extends back in time hundreds of years.

Early life

Djabaté was born into a poor but musically accomplished family in an area recognized as a center for music, dance, and other creative arts. His interest in music started at the age of three when he started playing the

balafon The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now ...

, the African

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

, quickly learning other traditional instruments. In his pre-teens he left home to the neighboring village of Sonako to study the kora. This helped him in the future by subsequently developing his guitar playing ability. His talent as a musician became much more than a childhood hobby for Djabaté as he was required to play at local ceremonies to help contribute to the family income. This became a source of conflict for Djabaté and his family. His parents and uncle forced him to perform against his will which took away from much of the free time other youth his age were enjoying. Djabaté's parents as well as his uncle, through pressuring him to perform, provided the young phenom with excellent training in traditional Mandingo music. However Djabaté was also interested in popular African genres such as the local dance music style gumbé, Nigerian Afrobeat, Cape Verdean morna, not to mention western jazz and blues, all of which have influenced his music.

Musical career

After touring Europe with the national music and dance ensemble of Guinea-Bissau, Djabaté settled in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal. He has lived in Europe since, yet remains devoted to the music he grew up with in Guinea-Bissau. In Europe Djabaté collaborated with various artists, including

Mory Kanté Mory Kanté (29 March 195022 May 2020) was a Guinean vocalist and player of the kora harp. He was best known internationally for his 1987 hit song " Yé ké yé ké", which reached number-one in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain. Th ...

and

Waldemar Bastos Waldemar dos Santos Alonso de Almeida Bastos (January 4, 1954 – August 10, 2020) was an Angolan musician who combined Afropop, Portuguese (fado), and Brazilian influences. History He was born in the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola ...

. In 2005, Djabaté released his first solo album, Teriké, which he released independently. Djabaté second solo album, Karam, was released on July 28, 2009 under the label, Cumbancha. This one disc, fifteen song album has themes of social and political realities; the suffering of African people; the fight against poverty; freedom; women's rights; and love.

Discography

* Teriké (2005) * Karam (2009) * Kanamalu (2016)

References

External links

* *
Blocritics: Music Review: Kimi Djabate - Karam

-> * {{DEFAULTSORT:Djabate, Kimi 1975 births Living people Bissau-Guinean musicians Musicians from Lisbon