Ibrahim Mahamadou Fily Sissoko, considered West Africa's greatest rapper, was born in Bamako on March 22, 1989. Practicing music from an early age, he released the track "Mogotessena" in 2009. An immediate success, the artist followed this up with his first album, The First , in 2010. As a hip-hop artist, he surfs on various codes of the genre, on the one hand liking to display a "bling-bling" side with his beautiful cars, but he also uses music to talk about poverty, politics and the street. His debut album won several Mali Hiphop Awards in 2010: Best Rapper of the Year, Best Sound with the single "Alhamdoulilaye ". He takes a humanist view of the world, claims not to drink or take drugs, and refuses to use nudity in his videos. Iba One often collaborates with kora player Sidiki Diabaté. The mix of hip-hop and Mandinka is a sensation, with tracks such as "Dondo Temena" and "Le Conseil de mon Papa ", taken from the second Dondo Temena album released in 2013. With the track " Akouma Te Kai ", the duo won the Mali Hiphop Award for Best Collaboration in 2015. He tours Europe, the U.S.A. and is a huge star in Africa, being the only artist to fill Bamako's Stade du 26 Mars three times, with its capacity of 50,000 spectators. Following the release of numerous singles, Iba went on to release a double album, Mon empire, featuring numerous collaborations, including one with La Fouine on the track " Snapper". This album won him numerous awards. Iba also released a series of music videos, including "Grand-père"(2022) and "Turfu" (2022), evoking police racism in France.
