 Nahawa Doumbia was in New York to perform in March, 2001, and Afropop Worldwide's Kristell Diallo caught up with her for an interview after the performance.
KRISTELL DIALLO: Good Afternoon Nahawa. Congratulations on last night's show. How are you? NAHAWA DOUMBIA: I'm good. Thank you.
KD: Hello from Sean Barlow and Georges Collinet of Afropop. Sean would like to know what has happened in Mali about cassette piracy, since he saw you and your fellow artists marching to the Prime Minister's office in February 2000. Any progress, or is it the same situation? ND: It's true Sean and I have known each other since then in Bamako. All the artists were in the streets, going to the Prime Minister to protest. Sean was there with us. Since then, the Malian government took some resolutions. The situation is better than before.
KD: Nahawa, tell us a bit about your story. The most important things of your musical career. ND: I can say that I started on my own. Faith made me sing. I am not from a griot family. My family is Muslim and was actually against the idea of me singing professionally. Thanks to an organization in my country, Fete Du Binale, I got a chance to be exposed to the public. They gathered the youth for their theatrical performances every two years. It encouraged me to do a lot of things and to become a singer. In 1974, 76 and 78 I won there a lot of prizes and in 1980 I won the "prix decouvertes RFI". This is what pushed me to break into the international scene.
KD: You told a story about your birth at the end of the concert. Can you tell our listeners that again? ND: My mother died one week after my birth. So I don't know her and don't even have a picture of her. I was then adopted by my grandmother. It was hard because she was old and thus had no milk to breastfeed me. I was brought one cow and thunder struck her. So I was then brought a second cow, which died by falling into a pit. My grandmother finally found some women in our village who could breastfeed me.
KD: So Nahawa, talk to us about your region. What is important to know about the Wassoulou tradition? ND: I come from the southern part of Mali. The 3rd region. I'm from the Bougouni circle. There are a lot of different music styles there. The Didadi style that I use, is based only on percussion, singing and dancing. Then you have the ngoni dance, the Hunter's ngoni or the Kamele Ngoni.You can also find some balafon in our main region. Basically, there are many different traditions and rhythms within the Wassoulou.
KD: The region is indeed very rich musically. ND: People like our music a lot.
KD: You're a role model now for women in Mali. How do you use your voice to address what you think is important? ND: In my music I address many different issues. I talk about education, households and marriages, the condition of the poor, the women, etc…Fortunately in Mali, women are doing well. Many of them hold important jobs and in a lot of fields.
KD: So basically you talk about any and everything that surrounds you and touches you. ND: Yes.
KD: I would like to discuss some particular songs with you now. About the 5th song into your concert, you talked about a song for the hunters. Tell us more about he music in that song, and what you are saying. ND: Well, it's a very sacred song for the hunters. We sing this song for the ones who have faced danger and have lived through hardship.
KD: Can you explain some of the most important songs from your album "Yankaw" for us? ND: On Yankaw there is "Djiwe," which relates the story of my birth under hard conditions. Then "Yankaw" says that when you're an immigrant, you must respect the law from the new country, the people, and also yourself. It also says that immigrants that are forced out of a host country can be sent back without the use of violence.
KD: And on "Yaala," your last release, what messages are important for us to understand there? ND: First of all, in song like "Sonorama," I use a different rhythm called soli. Now this songs says that everybody needs to get up and work! In "Yaala," I follow that idea by saying that in order to make things change and evolve, you need to get up and take action.
KD: I notice some of your late 80's, early 90's albums, produced by Boncana Maiga, had a more international sound, like Rigo playing soukous and the zouk horn section, but your last two CDs have been more Mali focused. Tell us about how you see this evolution. ND: On my first release I used acoustic guitar with a few instruments. After that I wanted to mix the sounds more, what I called "modern traditional music." That was in 1987 and it was a success. So in 1988 I went to Europe to produce "Yamatoutou." That album was modern and my people back in Mali thought it was too much. I agreed with them and from then went back to a more traditional sound. That's the work most people appreciate.
KD: That being said, do you have any future projects? ND: I will probably do some more modern traditional music on the next records!
KD: Also, can you tell us if there are any emerging Wassoulou artists we should know about? ND: Every day there are new artists! They are many. Actually my own daughter has started singing. Her name is Ramata Doussou. She's a student.
KD: Do you think she will follow your path and rise to a successful international career? ND: Well that's what she wants!
KD: Thank you a lot Nahawa for this interview. ND: You are welcome.
KD: And we wish you the best.
Nahawa Doumbia-2001Interview by Kristell Diallo
ND: Thank you, and hello to all the Afropop team and listeners.
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