Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté has had a long-held interest in bridging the distinct worlds he inhabited most of his life: the ancient and the modern, his native Africa and the West. Growing up, Kouyaté received a rigorous and traditional Guinean musical education. When he later relocated to Belgium, he received traditional Western conservatory training. 

Throughout his lengthy career, Kouyaté has collaborated with an eclectic and diverse array of internationally acclaimed artists across a wide range of styles and genres, including Peter Gabriel, William Kentridge, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Ray Phiri and others. But by far, the Guinean-born, Belgian-based artist may be best known for his work with the Grammy Award-nominated, groundbreaking, genre-defying outfit Afro Celt Sound System. 

Kouyaté’s solo debut Re: Génération Part 1 EP sees the acclaimed Guinean-born, Belgian-based artist creating and developing a new genre which he dubbed Afrotonix, which seems him pairing polyphony, electronic production and traditional African instruments like the kora, the balafon and regional percussion instruments. 

Earlier this year, I wrote EP single “Premiers Pas,” a slickly produced, breezy and hook driven bit of pop featuring atmospheric synths, twinkling kora, a supple yet propulsive bass line and skittering tweets and woofer rattling beats serving as a lush bed for Kouyaté’s plaintive delivery singing lyrics in Malinké and French. While being club and lounge friendly, the song is rooted in several powerful and urgent messages with the song being a cry for African autonomy without colonial influence, but the song also seeks and demands a more equitable world for all, as Kouyaté also calls out abuse in both the workplace and domestic spheres.

Kouyaté’s latest single “Kolabana” is the latest off his recently released EP. “Kolabana” continues a remarkable run of material that sees the Guinean-born, Belgian artist crafting a breezy and seamless synthesis of the contemporary and the ancient: The track features twinkling and arpeggiated kora, glistening synths and skittering beats serving as a lush bed for Kouyate’s plaintive delivery and an emcee, who contributes a swaggering eight bars or so, making the song both club and lounge friendly.