JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of Amadou & Mariam’s Amadou Bagayoko.
Tag: Amadou & Mariam
New Audio: Major Lazer’s House Music Remix of Amadou & Mariam’s “Mogolu”
Over the course of their almost 50-year career, the iconic and beloved Malian duo Amadou & Mariam have an illustrious career that has been them take the Malian blues that made them a household name in Africa and opened it up to rock, hip-hop and EDM/dance influences, spreading their unique Afropop message and joie de vivre. “We’ve always dreamed of tearing down walls and opening people’s ears to new sounds so the whole world can discover and appreciate Malian music,” Amadou & Mariam says.
Released last month, the compilation album La Vie Est Belle highlights the pairs legacy as one of Africa’s most famous duos and the massive influence they’ve had paving the way for an exciting, new generation of African artists, who have begun to dominate the Western mainstream. The Malian duo have also been ambassadors of Afro-pop, who have collaborated with some of the most iconic and biggest stars of Western mainstream music, including U2, Coldplay, Stevie Wonder and David Gilmour — with their seven studio albums selling over one million records globally.
Amadou & Mariam have made the rounds of the global festival circuit with stops at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, as well as at The World Cup, NPR’s Tiny Desk and this year’s Paris Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, where they covered Serge Gainsbourg‘s “Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je Me’n Vais.” They’ve also made the run of the late-night TV circuits across both the US and U.K.
And adding to their global profile, the duo have collaborated with JOVM mainstays Sofi Tucker, BLOND:ISH, Santigold, Akon, TV on the Radio and Damon Albarn.
La Vie Est Belle features new and exclusive material, as well as essential songs recorded and released over the last 20 years, including material off Dimanche à Bamako, the album that propelled the duo into pop stardom, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Album single “Mogolu,” which derives its title from the Bambara word for “people” is a celebration of all things human — human encounters, travels, cultural exchange and diversity, echoing the acclaimed pair’s longstanding commitment to global peace. Featuring layers of skittering and propulsive African polyrhythm paired with the Malian duo’s gorgeous boy-girl melodies and harmonies and glistening guitarrs “Mogolu” is a sleek and incredibly catchy synthesis of the traditional and the modern that has managed to burn up dance floors while subtly recalling the likes of La Confusion‘s “Bofou Sakou.”
Mogolu Remixes EP features remixes of “Mogolu” by a series of acclaimed producers including PPJ, Busy Twist and Major Lazer, the powerhouse production outfit led by Diplo. The Major Lazer remix of “Mogolu” turns the song into a slickly produced, club banger with dense layers of oscillating synths, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump while retaining the gorgeous melodies and soulfulness of the original.
New Video: Les Amazones d’Afrique Share Sleek and Righteous “Kuma Fo (What They Say)”
Founded in Bamako back in 2014 by three renowned Malian artists and social change activities Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Amadou & Mariam‘s Mariam Doumbia, Les Amazones d’Afrique is a All-Star collective of female, West African artists that embraces international voices through a meshing of heritage and new generation talent while advocating for the rights of women and girls across the continent and elsewhere. Since their formation, the collective has expanded to involve female artists from across Africa and the African Diaspora, including Angélique Kidjo, Nneka, and rising Malian artist Rokia Koné.
Through the release of two critically applauded, Doctor L-produced albums, 2017’s République Amazone, which landed on The Guardian‘s Top 50 of 2017 and 2020’s Amazones Power, which was featured on President Barack Obama’s Spotify playlist, the collective firmly cemented a sound that blends a number of African styles and richly melodic, collaborative harmonies with gritty, contemporary pop. Adding to a growing profile internationally, the members of the pan-African collective have played Glastonbury Festival‘s Pyramid Stage and BBC’s Later . . . with Jools Holland.
Les Amazones d’Afrique’s third album, the forthcoming Jacknife Lee-produced Musow Danse is slated for a February 16, 2023 release through Real World Records. The album reportedly sees the collective embracing a contemporary pop that draws from contemporary hip-hop and trap and is driven by 808s and glitchy synths while still vociferously campaigning for gender equality and the eradication of ancestral violence.
The All-Star collective’s latest single, and first off their forthcoming album, the sleek and hyper modern “Kuma Fo (What They Say)” features five members of the collective — longtime members Mamani Keïta, Fafa Ruffino and Kandy Guira and new members Alvie Bitemo, an activist and actress from Congo-Brazzaville and renowned Ivorian artist Dobet Gnahoré — singing in the native languages from Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, C’ôte d’Ivoire, and Congo-Brazzaville. Built around stuttering 808s, glitchy synths and the collective’s gorgeous powerhouse vocals, “Kuma Fo (What They Say)” is a seamless synthesis of the ancient and contemporary that’s roomy enough for each artist to showcase their unique talents while still rooted in a powerfully relevant social message, advocating for women to step out and seize their place at the proverbial table.
“‘Kuma Fo’ is about women’s freedom of expression.” Alvie Bitemo says. “It’s about speaking up — not asking, not waiting for us to be given the floor. We need to seize it.”
When you look at the Amazons of Dahomey, it was female warriors who made the decisions and took power. It feels like since colonization, certain countries in Africa have moved further away from women’s rights. And in this song, we say that if you bring life into the world, you educate, you organize the family, then you should reclaim your power: your female power.”
Directed by Valérie Malot and Odhrán Mullan, the gorgeous and cinematically shot video was mostly shot in Morocco during the collective’s visit to perform at last summer’s Gnaoua World Music Festival in Essaouira — and displays the collective’s women with their regal, self-assured power and in gorgeous traditional outfits.