Born on January 1st: Alpha Blondy is also the Omega of African reggae

This artistic pillar of the African continent was born in 1959 in Dimbokro (Ivory Coast), 240 kilometers north of the capital Abidjan.

Throughout his career, he has been supported by several groups: The Natty Rebels for his early days and especially The Solar System. Not forgetting Bob Marley's Waillers, who endorsed him in 1986 for the album "Jerusalem."

On this New Year's Day, I unearthed a few lines I wrote in a newspaper upon the release of the LP "Dieu" in 1994. From "Jah Glory" (1982) to "Jah Victory" (2007), Alpha Blondy has always had a penchant for somewhat mystical titles. Ready for a little trip in the time machine? Here we go!

Seydou Koné is truly a unique character. Under the colorful pseudonym Alpha Blondy, now sporting a shaved head like Manu Dibango, the Ivorian has brought Jamaican reggae to the very heart of Africa. A kind of payback, in a way! Not forgetting to infuse it with swaying rhythms and fundamentally pop melodies ("Rocking Time"). Without trying to intellectualize his feelings, he chants his faith and passionately advocates for simple yet complex causes. We remember his album titled "Apartheid Is Nazism" or the deliciously irreverent musical arrangement of a speech by President Houphouët-Boigny. When he's high on ganja, Alpha Blondy sees the world in a dichotomous and strangely simplistic way. However appealing they may be, his credos on abortion ("Abortion Is A Crime") and the horrors of armed conflict ("La guerre") are sorely lacking in realism and subtlety. Ultimately, it doesn't matter; we love the Ivorian singer precisely for his unwavering ability to dream of a better world, for his gift for languages ​​(Dioula, French and English on the same footing), for his raspy voice, for his amusing neologisms ("permanament" for "in a permanent way"), for his sounds borrowed from the Mandinka tradition and his irresistible melodic genius.

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Alpha Blondy backstage at the Marrakech Youth Festival (Morocco) in July 1985