Alpha Blondy
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Alpha Blondy (born Seydou Koné on January 1, 1953 in Dimbokoro, Côte d'Ivoire) is an Ivoirian reggae singer and a major music star in West Africa. Alpha Blondy sings mainly in Dioula, French and English, but also sometimes in Arabic or Hebrew. His lyrics denote strong political attitude and humor. In particular he coined the (French) term "democrature" (which translates as "democratorship") to qualify some African governments.
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[edit] Early years
[edit] Childhood
First son of a family of nine children, Seydou Kone was born in Dimbokro in 1953. Raised by his grandmother, he grew up in what he described "among elders", which – later – was to have a big impact on his career. In 1962, Alpha Blondy went to join his father in Odienne, where he spent ten years, attending the Sainte Elisabeth high school, and getting involved the Ivory Coast students movement. Here he formed a band. However, this hobby affected his schooling and Alpha Blondy was expelled from school because of poor attendance. His parents then sent him to study English in Monrovia a major city in the neighbouring country of Liberia in 1973. He spent thirteen months there and then moved to the United States of America to improve his English further. [1]
[edit] First stay in the USA
In 1973 Seydou moved to New York (and briefly Texas), attending language classes for over two years. He had to work very hard part-time, and sometimes at night, to survive and became ill. In New York he met Rastafarians for the first time, and was also able to see concerts by Jamaican artists such as Burning Spear. At this time he was recording Christian music but never stopped writing his own songs. Eventually he got into various scrapes in New York and returned to the Ivory Coast, where he got into even more trouble until he met up with one of his childhood friends, Fulgence Kassi, who had become a famous television producer. This was the beginning of his real career as a singer, using the name 'Alpha Blondy'. [2]
[edit] Musical career
After various TV shows for Kassi, Blondy recorded his first solo album in 1983, entitled 'Jah Glory'. This album was to have enormous success and would become later a symbol of resistance because of the song 'Brigadier Sabari', where Alpha criticised the harassment of the police. Some of this was based on personal experience as Alpha had seen police violence himself. Alpha Blondy became a big star in Abidjan with his own African twist of Reggae music, becoming in the eyes of his fans 'the Bob Marley of West Africa'. Alpha Blondy is spiritual, political and positive just like Marley himself. And he doesn't stop progressing; in order to reach more people with his message, he chose to sing in many languages: English, French, Baoule, and his own native language – Dioula. Later he also brought new instrumentation to his brand of reggae such as the violin and cello.
Soon the fame of Alpha Blondy spread to Europe. Following the success of an EP entitled “Rasta Pou” he went to Paris in 1984 to make his second album, 'Cocody Rock' with the label Pathe Marconi. The 'Bob Marley of West Africa' was to record the title track of this album with Marley’s backing group: The Wailers.
Back home in 1985, Alpha went into the studio to record 'Apartheid is Nazism'. This album was more politically committed than ever. It is a call for the end of Apartheid and the freedom for all. In 1986 Blondy recorded “Jerusalem” at the legendary Tuff Gong studios in Jamaica, again with The Wailers. Blondy tried to promote unity between the religion of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. He drew his arguments and inspiration from his own diverse knowledge of the Bible, the Koran and the Torah. That same year, Blondy sang in Hebrew during a concert in Morocco. At this point he was touring continuously. His new album 'Revolution' had a lighter, gentler sound; this was the album with cellos in the instrumentation, and the line-up included veteran Ivory Coast singer Aicha Kone. The album also included "Jah Houphouët parle", a long speech by the Ivory Coast president with only the most minimal beat behind it.
Blondy spent the years 1987–1989 giving concerts and recording 'SOS Guerre Tribale' in Abidjan. This was promoted by Blondy himself as he was distancing himself from Pathe Marconi at this stage. This was not to be a real success but this wasn't going to stop Blondy and in 1991 he returned to Europe for a concert tour and to record his famous album: 'Massada' with the help of musical legends such as Bocana Maiga and UK reggae producer Denis Bovell. The album, with its hit single 'Rendez Vous' was a huge success, and later, Blondy was to receive his first Gold Disc in Paris.
At the beginning of 1993, worn out from a world tour, Blondy succumbed to depression and was taken into an institution for psychiatric help. But as his health recovered he recorded the album 'Dieu' ('God'), where he appears more spiritual and religious, on tracks such as 'Heal Me', about his illness and recovery.
Blondy's psychiatric treatment continued but, on 10 December 1994, Blondy was back with the festival in memory of the late President Houphouet, and later he made his European comeback at a storming concert at Le Zenith in Paris. In 1996, Blondy released a hits compilation and went back into the studio to record the album 'Grand Bassam Zioin', singing in six languages; Malinke, Arabic, French, English, Ashanti and Wolof.
After two more years in Paris, Blondy returned to his homeland in 1998, with a new album 'The Prophet'. Convinced his label was too much focused on the international market, he decided to create his own label. Since then Alpha has recorded albums and singles, such as: 'Yitza Rabin' in memory of the Israeli minister who was assassinated in 1998 (this was accompanied by yet another grueling tour of Europe), the single 'Journaliste en Danger' the album 'Elohim' in 2000, and 'Merci' in 2002, and another featuring Ophelie Winter and Saian Supa Crew. His latest album, released in 2005, is entitled 'Akwaba' [3]
[edit] His Faith
Since the beginning Alpha Blondy kept his faith in God and his own religion union of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Despite the fact that Alpha was educated in a Muslim Family, he learnt a lot about Christianity, thanks to his Rasta philosophy and his work in the Christian music industry in New York. This side of Alpha Blondy can be heard on tracks like “Jerusalem” where he sang for unity between all religions in 1986. In the album “God”, during the recovery from his depression, he begged God for his help to overcome his trouble.
[edit] Alpha Blondy as activist
Alpha Blondy had always been a critic of authority. He calls himself a defender of free speech and since his breakthrough with “brigadier Sabari” has fought against injustice as well as racism, harassment and corruption. In the year 2000 Alpha denounced the mismanagement of government funds for private gain in the album “les voleur de la republique” (republic robber) . Despite the risk, he had the courage to denounce also the mysterious murder of the burkinabees journalist Norbert Zongo. But it is in 1998 that Alpha recorded his most challenged and criticised album: “Yitza Rabin”. He also wrote a song calling for the departure of the French arguing that the Ivory Coast did not need their services anymore, and the track “guerre civil“ predicted civil war if the politicians did not stop their corruption. [4] [5]
[edit] His contributions to society
Talking about Alpha Blondy, people think usually of music and indeed since 1980 he has written at least 17 albums and 194 titles. This itself indicates the great value he represents for his fans. Alpha is no longer an Ivorian star but a world star because of his fight for peace and unity all around the world. "Jah Blondy", as his friends call him, has been a UN goodwill ambassador because of his actions in favor of peace and justice. One example was his single “Who Are You” with Ophelie Winter against antipersonnel mines. He has also participated at many humanitarian and charity concerts, such as the concert in Senegal in March 2006 for the eradication of Malaria in Africa (where he appeared along with many other celebrities). He has done much, much more of this type of work in the Ivory Coast itself, especially at his annual free concert at Bassam beach called “festa”.
[edit] Conclusion
Alpha Blondy is one of Africa's most famous musicians. He has built his reputation on several successful albums and on his commitment and ability to denounce injustices around the world. Despite some difficult episodes caused by overwork – which lead to a bout of depression – Alpha Blondy’s determination and talent has always permitted him to overcome his difficulties. Today, Alpha Blondy represents a model for the future generation, which is why he merits more attention.
[edit] Best known songs
His first success was Brigadier Sabary. Some representative songs are:
- Apartheid is Nazism
- Brigadier Sabary - satirical lyrics about police brutality.
- Guerre Civile - about civil war
- Jerusalem - about Israel contains some lyrics in Hebrew
- Journalistes en danger - about the assassination of Norbert Zongo
- Politiqui - about civilian / military government alternance
- Yitzhak Rabin
Blondy features on a track on the 2005 Magic System album Petit Pompier.
[edit] Discography
- 1982: Jah Glory
- 1984: Cocody Rock!!!
- 1985: Apartheid Is Nazism
- 1986: Jerusalem (featuring The Wailers)
- 1987: Revolution
- 1989: The Prophets
- 1992: Masada
- 1993: SOS Guerres Tribales
- 1993: Live Au Zénith (Paris)
- 1994: Dieu
- 1996: Grand Bassam Zion Rock
- 1997: Best Of
- 1998: Yitzhak Rabin
- 1999: Elohim
- 2001: Blondy Paris Bercy
- 2002: Merci
[edit] References
- Interview with Montreal Mirror September 2003
- Official website
- Alpha Blondy Life, (2005). Alpha Blondy Info. Retrieved March 27, 2005
- Sahel University, (2006). Alpha Blondy’s Actions; retrieved April 1st, 2005, from sefos@yahoo.fr
- PCCI Center, (2006). Alpha Blondy’s Engagements. Retrieved April 2nd, 2006, from bamba400@hotmail.com
- Alpha Blondy Music, (2005). Alpha Blondy’s Info. Retrieved March 27, 2005
