Rokia Traoré (born 24 January 1974) is a Malian-born singer, songwriter and guitarist.

She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. Bowmboï (2003) won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004

Despite their shared last name, she is not related to Malian singer/guitarist Boubacar Traoré, although they performed a duet together on her 2000 album Wanita.

Recordings

Her first album Mouneïssa (Label Bleu), released in late 1997 in Mali and September 1, 1998 in Europe, was acclaimed for its fresh treatment and unqualifiable combinations of several Malian music traditions such as her use of the ngoni and the balafon. It sold over 40,000 copies in Europe.

On July 11, 2000, her second album Wanita was released. Traoré wrote and arranged the entire album.

Her 2003 album Bowmboï has two tracks recorded with the Kronos Quartet but still sung in the Bamana language.

Her album Tchamantché was released on May 6, 2008, followed in 2013 by her album Beautiful Africa.

She wrote the music for the 2011 Toni Morrison play Desdemona.

Personal life

From 2013 to 2018, Traoré had a relationship with Jan Goossens, a Belgian playwright and artistic director with whom she has a daughter, born in Belgium in 2015. Since their separation in 2018, the couple have been in conflict over custody of their daughter. The custody conflicts are due in part to conflict between African and European judicial systems. On September 26, the Italian justice system decided to extradite Traoré. On November 20, the Italian Court of Cassation gave its authorization for the extradition of Rokia Traoré to Belgium, rendering its final judgment of extraction to Belgium. On November 29, Traoré was extradited from Italy to Belgium and imprisoned in Haren prison in Brussels. On January 22, 2025, Traoré agreed to reach an agreement with the girl's father so that both could see the child again. A hearing was scheduled for June 2025 in Brussels to examine the implementation of the agreement and scheduled the pleadings.

Musical styles and influences

Traoré's arrangements are minimal in nature and her vocal style is smooth and gentle. She uses traditional instruments such as the balafon, n'goni, and kora, as well as acoustic guitar and electric bass.

In March 2005 she performed at the "Africa Live" festival, held in Dakar, Senegal.

Also in 2005 she performed at the Youssou N'dour and Friends concert in Geneva.

In December 2006 Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival, which is part of the City of Vienna's celebrations commemorating Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthday 250 years ago, saw the world premiere of Wati, a performance by Rokia Traoré and the Klangforum Wien.

In 2011 she performed at Paolo Fresu's Time in jazz festival in Berchidda.

In September 2012, she was included in the campaign "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book.

In 2013, she performed at Glastonbury Festival.

Awards

  • 1997: Radio France Internationale prize, "African Discovery" of 1997.
  • 2000: One of The New York Times critics nominated Wanita for album of the year.
  • 2004: Winner, BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, Critics Award category for Bowmboï
  • 2004: Runner-up, BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, Africa category
  • 2005: Runner-up, BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, Africa category
  • 2009: Victoires de la Musique World Music Album of the Year for Tchamantché
  • 2009: Winner, Best Artist category, Songlines Music Awards

Discography

thumb|Traoré on her Beautiful Africa tour in San Francisco, 2013

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" width="10"|Year

!rowspan="2" width="120"|Album

!colspan="3" width="30"|Peak positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |BEL <br>(Fl)<br>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |BEL <br>(Wa)<br>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | FR<br>

|-

|1998

|Mouneïssa

|–

|–

|–

|-

|2000

|Wanita

|–

|–

|–

|-

|2003

|Bowmboï

|–

|–

|43

|-

|2008

|Tchamantché

|76

|63

|35

|-

|2013

|Beautiful Africa

|86

|120

|66

|-

|2016

|Né So

|49

|139

|77

|-

|}

References

Further reading

  • Rough Guides, World Music the Rough Guide: Volume 1 Africa Europe and the Middle East, Second Edition. London. 2000. Page 560
  • African Musician Profile page on Traoré
  • Billboard Magazine profile of Traoré published July 15, 2000
  • Interview and acoustic concert at the Music Meeting 2009 festival