Rokia Traore
Rokia Traore
Rokia Traoréis a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist, born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group. Her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was exposed to a wide variety of influences. Her hometown of Kolokani is in the northwestern part of Mali's Koulikoro region...
NationalityMalian
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth26 January 1974
dream mind singing
The fact of playing an instrument and singing... that I can try to make my dream of singing and becoming a professional musician come true is linked probably to the fact that I traveled a lot, which gave me an open mind and an ability to push my limits.
thinking personality way
Traveling changed my personality and gave me ability to do the music I do and to think in a certain way that everything can be possible.
guitar years missing
I wanted to come back to the guitar after three albums and almost 10 years. I started to miss this instrument and I wanted to come back to the guitar.
guitar play sound
Of course the folk guitar is the one I play very often, but I wanted a more electric sound.
dancing interesting singing
I can change the arrangements on stage while I am playing or singing, doing signs to the musicians to change things because the audience is dancing or singing with us. That's the interesting part of the live show, actually, because everything is possible and everything can change.
this-life happenings new-things
We're repeating the same things all the time; there aren't many new things happening in this life.
simple thinking life-is-like
I prefer simple things - monotone melodies repeating the same things all the time. Because I think life is like that.
thinking people able
I can introduce new parts because when you are on stage in front of a very happy audience or people who love what you are doing, you are able to do extraordinary things that you yourself didn't think you could do before.
albums shows venues
At the beginning of the tour, I arrange the live show exactly like the album, but of course from one audience to another, from one venue to another, it can become longer.
important well-known great-experiences
It's a great experience just to understand that finally being well known is not the most important thing.
stars europe united-states
You can be a star here in Europe and not be known at all in the United States.
thinking festivals way
American audiences don't react in the same way as European ones to African music because, I think, Europeans listen to this music through all the festivals that exist here.
dream believe albums
For me, each time I'm on stage, each time I'm working on a new album, it's like a dream. I can't believe it's happening.
dream song writing
Without an audience, all your dreams will not come true at all, because you need an audience to write new songs and continue to do music.