Rokia Traore

Why you should listen

"Any goal must have a reason
Any success is based on a reason
Any failure is based on a goal without a reason."

These are the opening words, sung in Bambara, of the song "Kenia" from Rokia Traoré’s sixth album, Né So (“Home”). And perhaps they are the best way to encapsulate the Mali-born singer’s strength throughout her nearly twenty-year musical path, which includes a gorgeous performance at TEDGlobal 2007.

Having grown up as a diplomat’s child, Rokia had always been a traveller; but in 2009, she decided to move home to Mali. Three years later, she was the witness to a terrible war. “Experiencing life in a war-torn country was traumatic. I became aware of how naive I had been,” she confesses. "It’s never easy to go through tough times, but it is also what makes you grow.” The art of picking yourself up is what Né So is all about. Rokia Traoré started by writing and composing the songs alone. She then rehearsed in Bamako and recorded in Brussels and Bristol with musicians auditioned from the entire West African region -- as she says, “I need difference, I need a mix of cultures around me."