It is true that music has a universal language, but have you ever tried to sing in a language different from your maternal tongue?
You know sometimes in Paris there are orders, and I have also done several collaborations like for example with Bobby Womack it was very interesting as experience, there are always exchanges or collaborations with artists. With Myriam Makeba, for example, I always adapted. But in fact, I think the African language needs to be worn. I like to see when I perform in China in Japan, in North America in Brazil, in India, people ask me what I tell in my songs. And they tell me wow! I love this word. This allows me to talk about my Africa. To give her the attention she deserves. To love my Africa and speak with my woman's voice. I like to keep this deep side of Africa, keeping my tongue. This is very important to me musically I can go everywhere; I can try all genres play pieces which are a bit jazzy, funky or reggae. We need to wear our languages Myriam Makeba is no longer there, who will sing in our languages if we all sing in English or French? Oumou Sangaré is there, Angélique Kidjo too, but we must continue to preserve our cultural heritage. Young people must be able to continue what they have already accomplished. There are many young people who sing in English, it’s good but, all of us we cannot do the same thing. I think you should keep that depth. Moreover, it’s nice to listen to.
Yes, I think you’re not the only one who thinks this way, I recently heard Richard Bona who felt that young people Were not to abandon their original languages in music, same thing in the Caribbean with Jocelyne Béroard who felt that young peoples should do a Zouk music with more Creole. You have played in a dozen movies and made the theater boards how cinema and theater influenced your music?
The image is very important, I love cinema, because I do not actually play. I worked with a director Sotigui Kouyaté, at the age of 14. He trained me a lot I made two films with him he was my dad in Genesis and my uncle in Sia the dream of the python, and after we made a play for 4 years.
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Flashmag July 2019 www.flashmag.net
I understood with him that a good actor is the one who does not play. when you manage to merge the roles with your person then you can say that you are a good actor. So, I am in this step, remaining natural while acting and there are certain directors who appreciate that like Abdherame Sissako in the film Timbuktu.
You have ben in the big screen along Sotigui Kouyaté many other journalists believe that he has influenced you in what way?
The curiosity to learn. He always told me. I met him at 12, he coached me 2 years before the film was made. He made me understand who I was in life. He taught me how to channel my energy. He always told me, do not waste your time judging others, learn to drive your own bike. Learn to respect others learns to be humble. He has erased the ego in me. It's easy for me to love the other despite its difference, he taught me to see the good side of things. He taught me not to complain, as every day, is a gift from God. He was a wise man, and I had the good fortune to meet him before his departure. He made me understand that learning was infinite.
In September 2012, you took part in a campaign titled "30 Songs / 30 Days" to Support Half the Sky: Transforming Oppression into Women's Opportunities Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and the book By Sheryl WuDunn. In September 2012, you also attended the Africa Express train with Damon Albarn, Rokia Traoré, Baaba Maal, Amadou and Mariam, Nicolas Jaar and Les Noisettes among others. The show culminated in a concert at the Granary Square in London, where you will play with Paul McCartney how did you feel about this experience?
As I said, true artists recognize one another at a certain time there is no age, it is a question of sensitivity and one realizes that if the planet is going well, we are well too, and if It goes wrong we cannot sing. It seems simple but it is a background work of meditation. One must go to the depths of one's soul to touch the souls of others; And very few artists can do it. And when we are together no one is a star we are all the children of this world. And that reassures when