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Reggae comin’ atcha live from Côte d'Ivoire, mon. All ma frenz
know I & I luv de dub & reggae, mon. Bein’ a narco-anarchist radical
Buddhist, I’m always wantin’ ta take up de chalice ‘r de spliff of sacrament
for His Majesty Ras Tafari. Selassie I. Liven
up yerself.
Alpha Blondy was born Seydou Koné in Dimbokro,
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) on
January 1, 1953. He is one of the most respected reggae singers from Africa. He sings mainly in his native language of Dioula,
in French, & in English. Sometimes even in Arabic or Hebrew. His lyrics
convey serious political attitudes with a sense of humor.
Eldest son in a family of 8 children, Seydou Koné was raised
by his grandmother. In 1962, Alpha Blondy went to join his father in Odienné,
where he spent ten years. He attended Sainte Elisabeth
High School. There he
became involved in the Côte
d'Ivoire students movement. He decided to
form a band. However, his music interfered with his schooling. He was expelled
due to poor attendance. His parents then sent him to study English in Monrovia in the neighboring country of Liberia in
1973. He spent thirteen months there. Then he moved to the United States to
improve his English.
In 1973 Seydou moved to New York City
(also briefly Texas) where he studied English
at Hunter College. He later enrolled in the
Columbia University American Language Program. He majored in English. He had to
work part-time, sometimes at night, & was often ill. He then returned to
the Côte d'Ivoire.
He just hung around until he ran in to one of his childhood friends, Fulgence
Kassi. Kassi had become a noted television producer. This was the beginning of
his real career as a singer. At this time he began to use the name Alpha Blondy.
After various TV shows for Kassi, Blondy recorded his first
solo album in 1982, entitled Jah Glory. Songs like "Brigadier
Sabari" in which Alpha criticized police harassment where taken up as
symbols of resistance. Some of the lyrics were based on personal experience, as
Alpha himself had seen police violence first hand.
Alpha Blondy became a big star in Abidjan with his own African twist on Reggae
music. He became, in the eyes of his fans, ‘the Bob Marley of Africa’.
Alpha Blondy is spiritual, political & positive like Marley himself. He has
even recorded a cover of Bob Marley's song "War."
Soon the fame of Alpha Blondy spread to Europe.
Following the success of an EP entitled Rasta Poué he went to Paris in 1984 to make his
second album, Cocody Rock, for the label Pathe Marconi. Blondy traveled
to the island of Jamaica where he recorded the title
track of this album with Marley’s backing group, The Wailers.
Back home in 1985, Alpha went into the studio to record Apartheid
is Nazism. This album was more politically committed than ever. It is a
call for the end of Apartheid & the freedom for all.
On Apartheid is Nazism, the performers are: Alpha
Blondy – lead vocals; Christian Polloni & Yao Mao – lead guitars; Julie
Mourillon & Sam Camara – rhythm guitars; Georges Kouakou – keyboards;
Michel Constant & Nyaha Yodan Emmanuel – saxophones; Patrick Artero –
trumpet; Kamassa Seth – bass; Lick – percussion; & José Shillingford &
Michel Abihssira – drums, with Anne-Marie Constant, Manow Bale, Paula Moore,
& Rochelle Robertson on backing vocals.
Alpha Blondy & the Solar System – Apartheid is Nazism,
Pathé 2404491. 1985.
Face A –
Afriki
Jah Houphouet
Apartheid is Nazism
Idjidja
Sahel
Face B –
Sebe Allah Y’e
Kiti
Come Back Jesus
Djinamory
In 1986 Blondy recorded Jerusalem
at the legendary Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica, again with The Wailers
featuring legendary Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass among other notables( like Junior Murvin).
Jerusalem was recorded &
mixed at Tuff Gong Studios, Kingston,
Jamaica. On the
album are: Alpha Blondy – vocals; Junior Murvin – lead guitar; Earl ‘ Chinna’
Smith & Owen Reid – rhythm guitar; Earl ‘Wire’ Lindo & Georges Kouakou
– keyboards; Calvin ‘Bubbles’ Cameron, David Madden, & Glen DaCosta – horns;
Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett – bass; Carlton Barrett – drums; & Noel ‘Scully’
Simms & Iziah ‘Sticky’ Thompson – percussion, with Dahlia Lyons, Georgia
‘Pat’ Higgs, Lorna Wainwright, Marcia Higgs, & Olive ‘Senya’ Grant –
backing vocals.
Alpha Blondy & the Wailers – Jerusalem, Shanachie 43054, 1988.
Side A –
Jerusalem
Politiqui
Bloodshed in Africa
I Love Paris
Side B –
Kalachnikov Love
Travailler c’est Trop Dur
Miwa
Boulevard de la Mort
Dji
Several times we have
touched on the African griot tradition. Doumbia Moussa Fakoly (Tiken Jah
Fakoly) was born in the town of Odienné on the
northern slope of the Ivory
Coast on June 23, 1968 into a family of
musicians & oral historians. He was born into the time-honored Griot caste.
Fakoly took an earnest interest in reggae as a young boy
In the tradition of Bob
Marley & Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly emerged in the late 90s as Africa's premier social critic through reggae. He formed
his first group in 1987, giving them the name Djelys. Djely is another word for the griots &
minstrels. Taking on the mantel of a history keeper, Fakoly wrote lyrics that
documented events of his times & the oppression of his people. He was
quickly known regionally. Soon his music & reputation stretched across the
nation. Even beyond its borders.
The musical vehicle
Tiken Jah has chosen to transmit his message is the classic, fist-in-the-air,
reggae sound of the 70s, replete with lilting ganja-grooves, lush horn
arrangements & feel-good vocal harmonies.
Despite his dreadlocks
& his lifelong devotion to reggae as a genre, Tiken Jah is very clear about
his position on Rastafarianism. He was raised in a strict Muslim family. He
remains a devout believer of Islam. He accepts Rasta as a set of moral values rather
than a religion in itself. "I'm a
Muslim, but the link between myself and Rasta is Haile Selassie," he
explains, "He was an African leader
who liberated his people from the colonial oppressor. His philosophy was to
give to each person their dignity, to aspire to equality & justice. That
was the struggle of His Majesty Selassie I. I adhere to that."
Tiken Jah began to ditch
the proverbial approach to musical protest so favored by the older generation,
& to let the truth stand naked for all to see. His 1996 album Mangercratie
urged politicians to forget all their luxurious discussions & to
concentrate on the simple right of all to be fed. It sold more than half a
million official cassettes (nobody knows how many pirate copies have been
sold). It made Tiken Jah a star, a spokesperson for the bramagos, the
impoverished hopeless youth of Abidjan, Bouaké, Bamako, & Dakar.
But with the honesty
came danger. Government hit-lists have been unearthed with Tiken Jah's name
prominent amongst those of journalists, trade unionists, & opposition
politicians. For a while he owed his survival to a small group of soldiers in
General Guéi's bodyguard who also happened to be huge reggae fans. When the
heat began to rise they would tip Tiken Jah off. He would flee north into Mali or Burkina Faso to wait for things to
cool down.
Such is not the case
today. Like Bob Marley or Fela Kuti, Tiken Jah has achieved that rare status of
untouchability, where his fame is such that no politician would sensibly dare
eliminate him for fear of the popular protest it might unleash.
"They condone
dictatorship/
Just to make us hungry/
They plunder our riches/
To bury us alive/
They've burnt the Congo/
Inflamed Angola/
They've ruined Gabon/
They've burnt Kinshasa,"
goes the chorus of
"Françafrique",
This album is called Françafrique.
Françafrique is a term that has described so well the incestuous relationship
between France
& its former African colonies since they achieved independence in 1960. It
was a relationship mostly between corrupt African dictators & the French
political leaders they lavishly paid in exchange for support against
opposition, for closing their eyes to the siphoning out of their impoverished
countries’ wealth.
Tiken sings in the
language of Dioula & French. Françafrique was recorded at the famed
Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica.
On Françafrique,
the performers are: Tiken Jah Fakoly – vocals; Tyrone Downie – keyboards; Manu
Yodan – saxophone; Robbie Shakespeare – bass; Sly Dunbar – drums; Ayarinde
Bamidele – talking drums; & Sky Juice – percussion, featuring the vocals of
U-Roy, Anthony B., & Yaniss Odua on various songs with Julie Broli –
backing vocals.
Tiken Jah Fakoly – Françafrique
2xLP, Barclay 589613-1, 2002.
Side A –
Françafrique
On a Tout Compris
(Mangercratie)
Justice
Side B –
Soungourouba
Y’en A Marre
Le Balayeur
Side C –
Nazara
Missiri
Africa
Side D –
Le Pays Va Mal
Politiciens
Déliverance
Enjoy,
NØ
Alpha Blondy Jerusalem's album is no longer downloading, please upload the link.
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