In 2002, an Ivorian reggae singer released an album attacking the close, often corrupt ties between France and its former African colonies. A year later, after death threats, he left his country and settled in Mali.
Tiken Jah Fakoly has spent most of his career in exile, singing about power, injustice and African dignity.
Odienné
Tiken Jah Fakoly was born Doumbia Moussa in Odienné, in north-western Côte d’Ivoire. He discovered reggae as a teenager and formed his first band in the late 1980s. His stage name draws on his heritage.
Political reggae
From the start, Fakoly’s songs dealt with politics. He criticised corruption, dictatorship and the manipulation of ethnicity in Ivorian politics. His music, like that of Alpha Blondy, drew on Jamaican roots reggae but spoke directly to West African audiences.
Françafrique
His album Françafrique, released in 2002, became his first international success. It blended roots reggae with West African sounds and was sung mainly in French and Dioula. The title song attacked “Françafrique”, the web of political and business relationships between France and its former colonies.
Exile
As Côte d’Ivoire slid into civil war, Fakoly’s lyrics made him enemies. After receiving death threats, he left the country and settled in Bamako, Mali, in 2003.
Songs of Africa
Fakoly’s later albums continued to address African unity, democracy and the relationship between Africa and the West. Songs calling on Africans to “open the borders” and to take control of their own future became anthems at his concerts.
One concert, one school
In 2009, Fakoly launched a campaign called “Un concert, une école” (One concert, one school), using money from concerts to build schools. The campaign funded the construction of a school in the village of Touroni and a college in Dianké, in Mali.
His sound
Fakoly’s reggae uses heavy basslines and horn sections like Jamaican roots music, but adds African instruments such as the kora, balafon and ngoni. The mix gives his songs a distinctly West African identity.
Recognition
Fakoly has won awards in France and Africa and is one of the best-known reggae artists in the French-speaking world.
Singing from Bamako
Many exiled musicians fade from view. Fakoly built a new base in Mali and kept singing about Côte d’Ivoire and Africa, proving that his message could travel even when he could not go home.
