Rokia Traoré (born 24. January 1974) is a

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

an-born singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. ''Bowmboï'' (2003) won the Critics Award category at the

BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music The BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music was an award given to world music artists between 2002 and 2008, sponsored by BBC Radio 3. The award was thought up by ''fRoots'' magazine's editor Ian Anderson, inspired by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Un ...

in 2004 and ''Tchamantché'' (2008) won

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

World Music Album of the Year in 2009. Traoré won Best Artist in the

Songlines Music Awards ''Songlines'' is a British magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe. ''Songlines'' is published 10 times a year and contains CD reviews, artist in ...

in 2009. She is a member of the Bambara ethnic group.

Biography

Traoré's father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was exposed to a wide variety of influences. Her hometown of

Kolokani Kolokani is a town of approximately 57,307 inhabitants in Mali's Koulikoro Region. It is the capital of the Cercle of Kolokani, which consists of 10 rural communes (Didieni, Guihoyo, Kolokani, Massantola, Nonkon, Nossombougou, Ouolodo, Sagabala, ...

is in the northwestern part of Mali's

Koulikoro Koulikoro ( Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ tr. Kulikoro) is a town and urban commune in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, downstream from Mali's capital Bamako. Koulikoro is the terminus of ...

region. In 1997 Traoré linked with Mali musician

Ali Farka Touré Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music blends traditional Malian music and its deriv ...

which raised her profile. She was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

Recordings

Her first album ''Mouneïssa'' (Label Bleu), released in late 1997 in Mali and September 1, 1998 in Europe, was acclaimed for its fresh treatment and unqualifiable combinations of several Malian music traditions such as her use of the ngoni and the balafon. It sold over 40,000 copies in Europe. On July 11, 2000, her second album ''Wanita'' was released. Traoré wrote and arranged the entire album. Her 2003 album ''Bowmboï'' has two tracks recorded with the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

but still sung in the Bamana language. Her album ''Tchamantché'' was released on May 6, 2008, followed in 2013 by her album ''Beautiful Africa.'' She wrote the music for the 2011

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

play ''

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

''.

Personal life

From 2013 to 2018, Traoré had a relationship with Jan Goossens, a Belgian playwright and artistic director with whom she has a daughter, born in Belgium in 2015. Since their separation in 2018, the couple have been in conflict over custody of their daughter. The custody conflicts are due in part to conflict between African and European judicial systems. A court in Mali issued full custody to Traoré, but this was disputed by the government in Goossens' home country of Belgium. In March of 2020, Traoré was arrested after a judge in Brussels issued a warrant ordering her to surrender her 5-year-old daughter. Traoré was detained at

Fleury-Mérogis prison Fleury-Mérogis Prison (''Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis'') is a prison in France, located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis, in the southern suburbs of Paris. With more than 4,100 prisoners, it is the largest prison in France. It is operated b ...

near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and went on hunger strike upon her arrival. She had been traveling to Europe to attend a hearing related to the custody dispute at the time of the arrest. Several musicians publicly voiced support for Traoré and called for her release, including

Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo (; born July 14, 1960), known as Angélique Kidjo, is a Beninese singer-songwriter, actress, and activist who is noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. ...

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...

, and

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

Musical styles and influences

Traoré's arrangements are minimal in nature and her vocal style is smooth and gentle. She uses traditional instruments such as 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 ...

, n'goni, and kora, as well as

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

. She traveled to several continents as a child due to her father's work as a diplomat, and was exposed to musical styles including

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, pop, and Indian traditional composition. While the Bambara have a tradition of

griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

performing at weddings, members of the nobility, such as Traoré, are discouraged from performing as musicians. Traoré attended ''lycée'' in Mali while her father was stationed in Brussels and started performing publicly as a university student in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

. She plays acoustic guitar as well as sings, and uses vocal harmonies in her arrangements which are rare in Malian music. She also plays ngoni (lute) and

Performances

She played at

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, ...

in 2004 and completed her first tour of North America in the same year. In March 2005 she performed at the "Africa Live" festival, held in Dakar, Senegal. Also in 2005 she performed at the ''Youssou N'dour and Friends'' concert in Geneva. In December 2006

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

' New Crowned Hope festival, which is part of the City of Vienna's celebrations commemorating

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's birthday 250 years ago, saw the world premiere of ''Wati'', a performance by Rokia Traoré and the Klangforum Wien. In 2011 she performed at

Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music. Career Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the ban ...

's Time in jazz festival in Berchidda. In September 2012, she was included in the campaign "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support '' Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'', a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book. In 2013, she performed at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Awards

*1997:

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

prize, "African Discovery" of 1997. *2000: One of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

critics nominated ''Wanita'' for album of the year. *2004: Winner,

, Critics Award category for ''Bowmboï''Awards for World Music 2004: Critics Award
.

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. Accessed 22 October 2017 *2004: Runner-up, BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, Africa category *2005: Runner-up, BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, Africa category *2009:

World Music Album of the Year for ''Tchamantché'' *2009: Winner, Best Artist category,

Songlines Music Awards Winner 2009
.

Songlines (magazine) ''Songlines'' is a British magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe. ''Songlines'' is published 10 times a year and contains CD reviews, artist in ...

. Accessed 22 October 2017 Songlines Music Awards 2009 Winner
.

. Accessed 22 October 2017

Discography

References

External links

* *
African Musician Profile page on Traoré
* ttp://playback.musicmeeting.nl/index.php?option=com_jconcerts&id=63&task=view&Itemid=2 Interview and acoustic concert at the Music Meeting 2009 festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Traore, Rokia 1974 births Living people Bambara-language singers 20th-century Malian women singers 21st-century Malian women singers Traoré clan members People from Koulikoro Region Label Bleu artists