Dobet Gnahoré (born 17 June 1982) is a singer from

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

. The daughter of percussionist Boni Gnahoré, she plays with the group Na Afriki, consisting mainly of French and Tunisian musicians, who accompany her with the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

sanza Sanza may refer to: People * Nick Sanza, Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender * Nicola Di Sanza (born 1990), Italian football player Places * Sanza (Tanzanian ward), Tanzania * Sanza, Campania, Italy * Sanza Pombo, Angola Other * Sanza, als ...

, the

balafon The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with ''xylophone'' etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé peoples, Mandé, Bwaba Bobo people, Bobo, Senufo people, Seno ...

, the calebasse and

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

. Due to the civil war, she moved to France in 1999. In 2004, Gnahoré released her debut album ''Ano Neko''. In 2006, She was a nominee 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. U ...

for Newcomer. In 2010, she shared an award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance with

India.Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence with her debut album, ''Acoustic Soul (2001),'' which was a commercial and critical success. She has since released the albums ''Voyage to In ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...

Early life

A self-taught musician, who incorporates elements of song, dance, percussion and theatre into her repertoire, she is the daughter of percussionist Boni Gnahoré, who performs with her and the sister of Kiff No Beat band member Black K. She settled in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 1999 due to the civil war. Having had to move to France due to the Ivorian civil war, she further honed her craft in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

under the tutelage of Congolese musician and songwriter

Ray Lema Raymond Lema A'nsi Nzinga (born 30 March 1946), known as Ray Lema, is a Congolese (DRC) musician. A pianist, guitarist, and songwriter, he settled in France in 1982.

, whom she credited as teaching her the basics of music composition and how to construct a song.

Career

In France, Gnahoré met guitarist Colin Laroche de Féline and decided to form a band, Na Afriki. It consists of mainly French and Tunisian musicians, who accompany her with the

, the

, the calebasse and

. The group toured Congo, Gabon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea in the 2000s, and aspects of music from a number of African countries are evident, including Cameroonian

bikutsi Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaoundé. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa. It is primarily dance music. ...

, Congolese, East African

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

and Manding music, alongside

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

. Her lyrics often deal with pressing social issues, including the importance of family and AIDS. She can sing in seven different languages. Her music ranges from "delicate ballads to upbeat African grooves". In 2004, ''Gnahoré'' released her debut album ''Ano Neko'' ('let's create together'). She was a nominee at the 2006

for Newcomer and in 2010 she shared an award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the song "Pearls" with

at the

Discography

Albums

* ''Ano Neko'' (2004) * ''Na Afriki'' (2007) * ''Djekpa La You'' (2010) * ''Na Drê'' (2014) * ''Miziki'' (2018) * ''Couleur'' (2021) * ''Zouzou'' (2024)

References

External links

Dobet Gnahoré's websiteFacebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnahore, Dobet 21st-century Ivorian women singers Grammy Award winners 1982 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Marseille Ivorian emigrants to France 21st-century French women singers