Salif Keita

Although he is a direct descendant of Soundjata Keita, founder of the Mali empire, Salif Keita, born on August 25, 1949 in Djoliba (Mali), was soon rejected by his community and family because of his albinism, considered a sign of bad luck in Manding culture. As a teenager in 1968, he moved to Bamako, Mali, where he joined the Super Rail Band de Bamako, a group led by saxophonist Tidiani Koné, who mixed modern rhythms such as rumba with traditional Manding rhythms. In 1973, he joined Les Ambassadeurs and forged a reputation as a captivating musician on their tours across Africa. In the 1980s, Keita moved to Paris and fused the rhythmic music of his West African roots with European influences, using a variety of instruments from koras, djembes and balafons to saxophones and synthesizers. He also recorded two landmark albums in the United States, Primpin and Toukan, before taking part, at Manu Dibango's request, in the recording of a collective album Tam Tam pour l'Afrique (Tam Tam for Africa) to benefit Ethiopia, where a famine had been raging since 1984. Two years later, he followed this up with Soro, a blues-rock album sung in Malinké and recorded with Senegalese producer Ibrahima Sylla, which won him international recognition. Over the years, his discography has grown with the success of Ko-Yan in 1989, Amen in 1991, Folon in 1995, Papa in 1999 and Mama in 2000, consolidating his reputation as a pioneer of African music across Europe and the American continent. After the success of Moffou in 2002, he returned to Mali and set up his new studio, where he recorded M'Bemba in 2005, La Différence in 2009, which revisits his fight for the acceptance of albinos, and Talé in 2012. 2018 saw the release of Un Autre Blanc, on which Salif Keïta invited Angélique Kidjo, MHD, Yemi Alade, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Alpha Blondy. In 2025, he returned solo with the album So Kono.