Serge Bambara (also known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Smockey, born 24 October 1971) is a hip hop artist, actor and political activist from

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

, the capital of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. Born in what was then the Republic of Upper Volta, the son of a Bissa father and a French mother, he moved to France to study in 1991. In 1999 he signed a contract with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and launched a first single, featuring the singer

Lââm Lââm (born 1 September 1971) is a French singer of Tunisian descent. She has sold more than 4,000,000 singles & albums. Biography Lââm (whose real name is LamiaSenegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

ese rapper

Didier Awadi Didier Awadi is a Senegalese rapper and a significant figure in Francophone West African hip hop. As a founding member of Positive Black Soul (PBS) with Duggy Tee, Awadi toured around the world contributing to the international popularity of Hip ...

. Bambara won the "Best Artist of the Year" category of ''Kundé'', a national Burkinabé music award, in 2006. He was presented the award by

Chantal Compaoré Chantal Compaoré, born Chantal Terrasson de Fougères is the Franco-Ivorian wife of former President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. Born in the Dabou, Ivory Coast, after becoming the First Lady in 1987 she spent much of her time on charity w ...

, First Lady of Burkina Faso at the time. In 2010 he won the Kora Awards, in the category "Best Hip-Hop Artist". Bambara also starred in a 2008 film adaption of the Ivorian author

Ahmadou Kourouma Ahmadou Kourouma (24 November 1927 – 11 December 2003) was an Ivorian novelist. Life The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Boundiali, Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursue ...

's novel ''En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages'', directed by Missa Hébié. Politically a

Sankarist Sankarism (also written Sankaraism) is a term sometimes applied to denote a left-wing ideological trend within the politics of Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa, as well as the policies of the military government led by Captain Tho ...

, Bambara heavily opposed the government of President Blaise Compaoré, and has expressed support for Thomas Sankara, a radical left-wing revolutionary who ruled the country from 1983 until he was deposed and killed by Compaoré in 1987. In a 2014

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

interview he stated his views on Sankara's legacy: "It allowed us to be more proud to be African and to pull out of that inferiority complex, to realise we can accomplish things". Much of his work has political themes. In 2013 he co-founded

Le Balai Citoyen The Le Balai Citoyen ('The Citizen's Broom' or 'The Civic Broom'), is a political grassroots movement in Burkina Faso, which was part of the opposition against President Blaise Compaoré. It was co-founded by two musicians, reggae artist Sams’ ...

("The Citizen's Broom"), a grassroots political movement, together with the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

musician

Sams’K Le Jah Karim Sama (born 1971), more commonly known by his stage name Sams'K Le Jah, is a reggae musician, radio host and political activist from Burkina Faso. He was born in the neighbouring Ivory Coast, before coming to Burkina Faso in 1985. During his ...

. The movement participated in the

2014 Burkinabé uprising The 2014 Burkina Faso uprising was a series of demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso in October 2014 that quickly spread to multiple cities. They began in response to attempts at changing the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaoré ...

, a wave of protests which on 31 October 2014 forced President Compaoré to resign and flee the country. Bambara, a prominent opposition leader during the uprising, supported the military's decision to lead the country through a transitional period. On September 17, 2015, Bambara's recording studio, Studio Abazon, was bombed and destroyed by the

Regiment of Presidential Security The Regiment of Presidential Security (french: Régiment de la sécurité présidentielle, RSP), sometimes known as the Presidential Security Regiment, was the secret service organisation responsible for VIP security to the President of Burkina F ...

, loyal to ousted President Blaise Compaoré. Bambara married the actress

Kady Traoré Kady Traoré (born 18 March 1979) is a Burkinabé actress, film director, and film producer. Biography Traoré was born in Bobo-Dioulasso in 1979. She studied at ISIS (Higher Institute of Image and Sound) in Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is ...

on 31 January 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bambara, Serge 1971 births Burkinabé male film actors Burkinabé male singers Burkinabé socialists Living people People from Ouagadougou Burkinabé rappers Sankarists Burkinabé people of French descent Burkinabé expatriates in France 21st-century Burkinabé male actors

See also

References