Serge Bambara (also known by his
stage name 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 ...
, the capital of
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, đ€đ€”đ€Șđ€łđ€đ€Čđ€ą đ€đ€ąđ€§đ€ź, 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 ...
. Born in what was then the
Republic of Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper Volta (french: RĂ©publique de Haute-Volta) was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the ...
, 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 corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
and launched a first single, featuring the singer
Lùùm. In 2001 he moved back to Burkina Faso and started the studio Abazon. He has released the albums ''Epitaphe'', ''Zamana'', ''Code noir'' and ''Cravate Costards et Pourriture'', and cooperated with the prominent
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: đ€
đ€«đ€Čđ€«đ€șđ€ąđ„đ€€đ€ (Senegaali); Arabic: ۧÙŰłÙŰșŰ§Ù ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''RĂ©ewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : đ€đ€«đ€Čđ€Łđ€ąđ„đ€Čđ€Łđ€ ...
ese rapper
Didier Awadi.
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, First Lady of Burkina Faso at the time.
In 2010 he won the
Kora Awards
The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President Ha ...
, 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 â 11 December 2003) was an Ivorian novelist.
Life
The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Boundiali, CÎte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursue ...
's novel ''En attendant le vote des bĂȘtes sauvages'', directed by Missa HĂ©biĂ©.
Politically a
Sankarist, Bambara heavily opposed the government of President
Blaise Compaoré
Blaise CompaorĂ© (born 3 February 1951)''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 76â77. , and has expressed support for
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore NoĂ«l Sankara (; 21 December 1949 â 15 October 1987) was a BurkinabĂ© military officer, MarxistâLeninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition a ...
, 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
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 exam. ...
...
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.
. The movement participated in the
, 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
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
on 31 January 2008.