Mory Kanté (29 March 195022 May 2020) was a

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

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. The album it came from, ''Akwaba Beach'', was the best-selling African record of its time.

Early life

Kanté was born in Albadaria, French Guinea (a part of

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

at the time) on 29 March 1950. His father was El Hadj Djeli Fodé Kanté and his mother, Fatouma Kamissoko, was a singer. They were one of Guinea's best known families of

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

(hereditary) musicians. He was of mixed

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an and

n descent. After being brought up in the Mandinka griot tradition in Guinea, he was sent to

at the age of seven years – where he learned to play the kora, as well as important voice traditions, some of which are necessary to become a griot. As a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, he integrated aspects of Islamic music in his work.

Career

In 1971 Kanté became a member of the Rail Band, in which Salif Keita was a singer. Keïta left the band in 1973, leaving Kanté as the singer. In 1987, he released the song " Yé ké yé ké", which was one of Africa's best-ever selling hits as well as being a European number-one in 1988, making it the first ever African single to sell over one million copies. The album it came from, ''Akwaba Beach'', became the best-selling African record of its time. The album also featured an Islamic song, "Inch Allah", alongside the pop hit "Yé ké yé ké". The album also featured the song "Tama", which inspired two Indian Bollywood songs, "Tamma Tamma" in ''

Thanedaar Thanedaar () is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language action film, produced by Sanjay Roy and Sudhir Roy under the Shiva Arts International banner and directed by Raj N. Sippy. It stars Jeetendra, Jaya Prada, Sanjay Dutt, and Madhuri Dixit with music ...

'' (1990) and "Jumma Chumma" in '' Hum'' (1991), the latter film also featuring another song "Ek Doosre Se" which was inspired by "Inch Allah". Kanté received unexpected fame again in 1994 when the German techno duo Hardfloor created a dance remix of "Yéké Yéké." He also appeared in 2006 as vocalist on

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

DJ Darren Tate's release, "Narama". On 16 October 2001, Kanté was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(FAO). He participated in that year's World Food Day ceremony at the FAO's headquarters in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, alongside fellow singers Majida El Roumi,

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...

, and Albano Carrisi (who were also nominated as ambassadors). Kanté was among Africa's top musicians – including Tiken Jah Fakoly, Amadou & Mariam and the rapper Didier Awadi – that banded together for the recording of "Africa Stop Ebola", a song offering sound advice aimed at raising awareness in the wake of the Ebola crisis. The song, released in November 2014, transcended public service announcements and sold 250,000 copies with all proceeds going to medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Death

Kanté died on 22 May 2020 at a hospital in

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

at the age of 70. He was suffering from chronic illnesses in the last years of his life and often received treatment 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 ...

. This ceased to be possible following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in that country. He is buried at Conakry Kipe's cemetery.

Selected discography

Source:

Albums

* ''Courougnegne'' (1981) * ''N'Diarabi'' (1982) * ''A Paris'' (1984) * ''10 Cola Nuts'' (1986) * ''Akwaba Beach'' (1987) (#1 SUI; #13 GER; #43 SWE) * ''Touma'' (1990) * ''Nongo Village'' (1993) * ''Tatebola'' (1996) * ''Tamala – Le Voyageur'' (2001) * ''Best Of'' (2002) * ''Sabou'' (2004) * ''La Guinéenne'' (2012)

Contributing artist

* '' The Rough Guide to Acoustic Africa'' (2013, World Music Network) * In 1980, Queen Asabia Cropper 's brother Kenteman played bass guitar on Mory Kante's first Original album N'diarabi, Courougnene and Bankiero recorded by Eboni Records Company in Cote D'ivoire.

Singles

* " Yé ké yé ké" (1988) (#1 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Israel; #2 in Germany and Switzerland; #5 in France, #10 in Austria; #12 in Sweden; #29 in the UK) * "Tama" (1988) (#44 in Germany) * "Yéké Yéké" (remix) (1995) (#97 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, #25 in the UK) * "Yéké Yéké" (remix) (1996) (#28 in the UK)

References

External links

Official website

Mory Kanté at Mondomix

Mory Kanté at Leopardmannen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kante, Mory 1950 births 2020 deaths Guinean Kora players Guinean male singers Guinean Muslims 21st-century Malian male singers Malian Muslims People from Faranah Region 20th-century Malian male singers