Tiken Jah Fakoly

Following in the footsteps of his musical mentor, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly has established himself as one of the figureheads of the new reggae scene in Ivory Coast. Fusing his infectious reggae beat with hard-hitting lyrics, Fakoly has become a spokesperson for an entire generation of music fans, speaking out on political and social issues through his songs.

Doumbia Moussa Fakoly, the third of his parents' children, was born in Odienné, a village in the north-west of Ivory Coast on 23 June 1968. The Fakoly family, members of the Malinké tribe, are descended from the legendary warrior chief Fakoly Koumba Fakoly Daaba and belong to the griot caste. The African griots are storytellers/musicians who guard the oral tradition of their people, their region and the most important families living there, recounting stories and legends through their music. As a young boy, Tiken developed a passionate interest in music, but he did not actually put his passion into practice until after the death of his father.

Tiken was not an assiduous pupil at school, preferring to spend his time listening to music and attending local dances rather than studying. In an effort to get his son back on 'the right track', Tiken's father sent him to live with a relative in a neighbouring village called Gbéléban. But, far from turning Tiken away from music, this move only encouraged him – for it was in Gbéléban that Tiken discovered reggae!

At the age of 20 Tiken hooked up with a Ghanaian guitarist by the name of Joffrey and soon afterwards the pair went into the studio together to record their first demo tape. However, even at this early stage of his career, Tiken preferred playing live to working in the studio. He went on to form his first group, Djelys, around 1987 and the group and their charismatic lead singer soon built up an excellent reputation on the local music scene. By 1992 Djelys had become such a well-known fixture on the Ivory Coast scene that they were invited to support Solo Jah Gunt, one of the country's leading reggae stars, in concert. The following year Djelys recruited a new member, enlisting the services of a French guitarist by the name of 'Spank!'.

Food for all!

Spotted by a tour promoter from Marlboro Music, Djelys were invited to take part in the "Marlboro Rockin'" talent contest in 1993. And Tiken's band did themselves proud – finishing 4th out of 200 contestants! Djelys' success at the "Marlboro" talent contest opened a lot of doors for them and the group were quickly picked up on national radio and television. Needless to say, it was not long before Djelys were whisked into a local studio to record their debut album (simply entitled "Djelys").

Tiken, the group's lead singer, was also responsible for penning Djelys' lyrics and music and his work soon began to catch on right across the country. The group went on to release their second album, "Missin", in 1994 and embarked on an extensive national tour soon afterwards. This tour coincided with a historic event in Ivory Coast's political life, falling as it did during the first elections following the death of President Houphouët Boigny (who had enjoyed a one-man reign in Ivory Coast from 1960 to 1993). The elections sparked a series of violent street protests and it was during this turbulent period that Tiken began writing his first songs denouncing corrupt politicians and abusive regimes. These songs made the up-and-coming reggae star an instant hit with teenage music fans in Ivory Coast and Tiken soon became a regular speaker at protests and political meetings.

But it was the phenomenal success of "Mangercratie", a single released in 1996, that really catapulted Tiken to fame in West Africa. The hard-hitting message of this song revolved around Tiken's demand that politicians should stop abusing people's rights via their so-called democracies and other "-cracies" of all kinds and respect Africans' inalienable right to have food on the table at meal times. Despite being partially censored by the national media, scored a huge hits in the charts in Ivory Coast, remaining at the top of the hit-parade for a full five months. And "Mangercratie" provided the perfect launchpad for Tiken's solo career in 1997. Fans flocked to see the reggae 'protest' singer wherever he appeared and by the end of the year Tiken was playing to stadium audiences of up to 20,000. Needless to say, he also became a popular fixture at music festivals up and down the country.

Tiken's music soon crossed national borders and spread to Europe and it was not long before he started making a name for himself in the 'world' music capital, Paris. Tiken played his first concert in the French capital on 23 March 1998, bringing the house down on the "Makara" (a music barge moored on the banks of the Seine). Following this concert, Tiken was inundated with invitations to appear in concert throughout Paris and the provinces. And in May '98 he performed at the "Africa Live" concert organised by RFI and Canal France Internationale at "Le Divan du Monde" in Paris (and broadcast live on French TV). On 12 July 1998, the day of the World Cup final, the Ivoirian star got football fans grooving to his infectious reggae beat at the Stade de France.

While his European career continued to go from strength to strength, Tiken did not neglect his African fans. Indeed, he returned to Africa on a regular basis, embarking upon an extensive tour of Burkina Faso in 1998. At the end of that same year Tiken was one of the headlining acts at the "Musiques métisses" festival and he also supported French reggae outfit Sinsemilia at two concerts (on 4th and 5th December).

Abidjan-Paris-New York

At the beginning of '99 Tiken locked himself away in the studio and began work on his new album. He went on to tour Burkina Faso and Guinea later that year, but the highlight of his career in '99 was a series of concerts in New York and Philadelphia where he appeared on stage with a Jamaican backing band.

In May '99, Tiken's album "Mangercratie" was released in France. Shortly afterwards, the group Sinsemilia got in touch with the Ivorian reggae star and asked him to support them on tour. Throughout the summer and autumn of that year Tiken played an extensive series of concerts with the group, appearing at all the top French music festivals including "Fourvière" in Lyons and the "Francofolies" in La Rochelle. Tiken’s new album, "Cours d'Histoire" (History Lesson) was released in Ivory Coast at the end of that year. The album, which had been mixed in Jamaica, scored a huge hit with critics and music fans right across West Africa. “Cours d’histoire” featured Tiken's usual social and political discourse, but also included songs such as "Descendant" which explored his personal relationship to African tradition and his ancestors.

Shortly after the putsch masterminded by General Gueï in December 1999, Tiken went back into the studio in Ivory Coast to record a series of new songs intended to remind the country’s new head of state of the promises he had made to the population. His album "Le Caméleon" was released solely in Ivory Coast in 2000, at the same time as "Cours d'Histoire" hit record stores in France. A few months later, Ivory Coast entered another turbulent period in its political history with rival factions rioting on the streets after controversial election results. Tiken's outspoken criticism of corrupt politicians and abusive regimes made him a more potent protest symbol than ever and thousands of young Ivorians adopted him as a role model.

In April 2000, Tiken was one of the headlining acts at the annual "Printemps de Bourges" festival in France. The Ivorian reggae star also brought the house down when he appeared at the "Completement Mandingue" festival in St Brieuc, Brittany. And he went on to give another stirring performance at the mega-reggae festival held at Bercy stadium in Paris on 24th June.

On 2nd December 2000, Tiken was the star guest performer at RFI's "Découverte" talent contest organised in Cotonou, Benin. A few days later, on 7th December Tiken flew back to France to support the reggae group Israël Vibration at a concert in Tours.

An international star

Having become a prominent figure of West-African music, Tiken was signed by Barclay. The prominent label offered him his biggest recording budget so far, encouraged by the commercial success of his previous album "Magercratie"—which had sold 500,000 copies without considering the many pirate editions. Tiken flew off to Jamaica to record his new album in the legendary Tuff Gong studios.

Entitled "Françafrique", the album featured many impressive names: Tyrone Downie as producer and keyboard player, Sly for the bass, Robbie for the drums, guitarist Earl Smith, along with special guests Anthony B and U Roy—for "Justice". "Françafrique" included new versions of Tiken’s previous hits such as "Le Pays va mal" or "Y’en a marre", offering a compilation of the singer’s best pieces sung in French, English or Dioula. To promote this album, he embarked on a tour up and down France, bringing the house down at the Elysée-Montmartre on February 28, 2002.

Still on message

Tiken headed back to Kingston, Jamaica, in 2004 to record his new album, "Coup de Gueule," at the legendary Tuff Gong studios. The Ivorian reggae star enlisted the aid of the crack reggae team that had helped out on his last album, recruiting Tyrone Downie as producer and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare in the rhythm section. "Coup de gueule," which hit record stores in September 2004, found Tiken broadening his vision to tackle world problems like globalisation as well as hitting out against Africa-specific issues such as corruption. While keeping a distinctive Afro-Jamaican edge to his sound, Tiken opened his music up to new horizons via collaborations with a number of special guest stars. These included Didier Awadi from the group Positive Black Soul (who guested on "Quitte le pouvoir"), the Amokrane brothers from Zebda ("Où veux-tu que j'aille") and Magyd Cherfi who co-wrote the song "Tonton d'America".

Tiken had dreamt of launching his new album with a concert in Ivory Coast, but there were fears for his own safety and that of his fans. The singer, who is currently living in exile in Mali, launched "Coup de Gueule" in Bamako instead, performing a concert at the Modibo Keïta Stadium on 2 October. 20,000 fans turned out to hear songs from his new album.

Tiken, a veritable showman on the live circuit, is renowned for winning audiences over with his on-stage energy and personal charisma. The reggae star put these talents to good use, devoting most of the two following years to an increasingly busy concert schedule. Meanwhile, Tiken found himself in great demand on the recording circuit, too, with numerous requests to guest on other artists' albums. The Ivorian star provided guest vocals on Didier Awadi's "Stoppez les criminels" (on Awadi's 2005 album "Un autre monde est possible"), on "Africa" and "On veut se marier" (on Ba Cissoko 's 2006 album "Electric Griot Land"), on "Si si" (on Pierpoljak 's 2006 album "Je blesserai personne") and on Idir 's "Africa Taferka" (on the album "La France des couleurs" released in 2007).

In January 2006, Tiken used his position as one of the prime movers and shakers on the African reggae scene to organise the African Reggae Festival, staged at Modibo Keita Stadium in Bamako. Tiken invited a number of established reggae stars as well as up-and-coming artists to take part. And he ended up taking a few of these up-and-coming artists under his wing and producing their albums in the studio he had set up in the Malian capital. "Kraity Payan Guez", the debut album by Tiken's friend and compatriot Beta Simon was the first release on Tiken's label, Fakoly Production.

2007: "L'Africain"

At the beginning of 2007, after performing in Mali, the Ivorian reggaeman went on to assure a series of dates across Europe. His summer dates included appearances at major music festivals such as Dour, in Belgium (in July), the Summer Festival in Quebec and the Sziget Festival, staged in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in August.

In September 2007, Tiken's new album, "L'Africain" (recorded in his studio in Bamako) was released in France. The title of this new album implied that the Ivorian reggaeman was on a mission to encourage pan-African unity. He dealt with a number of themes on his new album including immigration on the hardhitting "Ouvrez les frontières" (Open the borders). The song, co-written with Magyd Cherfi, pointed the finger of blame at richer countries in the North which refused to open their borders to Africans whereas Europeans had no difficulty obtaining visas to go to Africa. Tiken also wrote another track with Cherfi, a French adaptation of Sting's "Englishman in New York", entitled "Un Africain à Paris." On songs such as "Gauche droite", Tiken denounced political abuses of power and he also wrote a poignant song about his homeland, "Ma Côte d'Ivoire", recorded as a duet with his compatriot Beta Simon.

The Ivorian reggaeman followed the release of "L'Africain" with a French tour which included a concert at the Olympia, in Paris, on 15 October 2007. On 29 November, Tiken kicked off an African tour, during which he returned to perform in Ivory Coast for the first time in five years. In fact, following the signature of the national reconciliation pact in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in March, the musician was able to return to Ivory Coast where political tensions had considerably eased. On 8 December 2007, Tiken performed at a special "reconciliation" concert in front of a big crowd at Treichville sports stadium in Abidjan, where he shared the stage with a number of other Ivorian artists including Ismaël Isaac and Serge Kassi.

In December 2007, Tiken was invited to appear as a special guest star at the 7th edition of the International Hip-Hop Awards held in Dakar, Senegal (12 -15 December). On this occasion, he publicly denounced President Abdoulaye Wade's regime at a press conference, calling on the Senegalese president to step down. As a result of his outspoken remarks, the Senegalese authorities banned the singer from ever setting foot in the country again.

On 26 April 2008, the singer was awarded a Golden Disc for “l’Africain” just as he finished his concert at the Zénith in Paris.

At the start of 2009, he released a mini album in Africa called “Radio libre”. Inspired by African and international current events (the election of Barack Obama, amongst other things, resulted in “Changement historique”), Tiken proposed a series of militant songs that he had written during his French tour the previous year, as a gesture towards his African fans.

In April, the singer performed a show called “Un concert, une école” (one concert, one school) in a stadium in Conakry in Guinea to an audience of 15,000. The profits from ticket sales were used for building or revamping schools. As the artist underlined, “Without education there can be no development”. The operation was repeated in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. He then did a tour of the Indian Ocean before redoing the operation in Mali, Togo and Niger.

The singer participated in the sound track of the film “Abidja’ Taam”, a film by Eliane de Latour, recording two original tracks for the album that came out in July.

2010: "African revolution"

The Ivoirian reggae man made a significant departure with his album "African revolution" in September 2010. Recorded in the Tuff Gong studios in Jamaica and in Bamako, Mali, he mixed reggae with traditional African instruments like the ngoni, the kora and the balafon, thus creating a much broader musical spectrum. Tiken wrote most of the songs along with Zebda’s lead singer, Magyd Cherfi (“Il faut se lever” and “Sors de ma télé”). He also asked Jeanne Cherhal to lend a hand with “Je ne veux pas ton pouvoir” and Féfé (ex-Saïan Supa Crew) for “Je dis non”. The Nigerian singer Asa coupled her voice with his on the duet “Political war”.

In September, he inaugurated his Malian club “Radio Libre Bamako”, with the intention of making a space available to young musicians.

In mid-November, Tiken Jah Fakoly took back to the road for a series of concerts in France, including one at the Cigale in Paris on 25 November.

He played two dates at La Cigale in Paris, on 25 November and 20 January 2011. During March and April he toured Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany. On 18 June Tiken Jah performed at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, before setting off on a marathon round of the biggest summer festivals.

As Ivory Coast emerged from a political crisis that had divided the country, Tiken decided to promote national reconciliation. He set off with a bunch of compatriot artists in a Caravane de la Paix (peace caravan), performing concerts across the country. During the same period, he patched things up with another Ivoirian reggae man, Alpha Blondy, who also took part in the caravan.

The pair’s new-kindled relationship resulted in a duet, "Réconciliation" which featured on Blondy’s album, "Mystic Power".

Among the string of causes close to his heart, Tiken campaigned for farming and against rural exodus on the African continent. He worked with the association One on promoting the status of farming in the eyes of young Africans. With 18 other artists, he recorded "Cocoa na chocolate" in 2014, whose lyrics about the cocoa trade were devised to encourage young people to work the land.

2014: "Dernier appel"

Moving away from songs addressed to African leaders, Tikan Jah Fakoly’s new album, “Dernier appel” looked called on the peoples of his continent to spur change. Recorded in Paris and Bamako, the collection clearly draws its inspiration from the roots of Jamaican reggae.

It also features other influences, underlined by the presence of artists like the German-Nigerian Nneka, the German-Sierra Leonean Patrice, and once again the Ivoirian Alpha Blondy, who sang on the track "Diaspora". Two of the numbers feature lyrics by Mike de Sinsémilia ("Dernier appel" and "Le prix du paradis"). Tiken also sings a moving song in Mandinka about his daughter’s late mother, “Tata”.

In July he embarked on a tour of Europe and Quebec.
July 2014

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