Rokia Traore
- April 27th 2010
Malian singer Rokia Traore burst onto the world music scene in 1997 when she was awarded the Radio France Internationale prize for African Discovery of the Year, only a year after she had become a professional singer. Traore, who sings almost exclusively in her native Bamanan language, has achieved international critical and popular acclaim as one of the most innovative stylists to emerge in the West African singing tradition. With the release of each of her three CDs, Traore has garnered increasing praise, and her third CD, Mouneïssa, was awarded BBC Radio 3's Critics Award in 2004. Difficult to classify, Traore's work blends traditional African music with an array of musical influences, ranging from classical to jazz, and from folk to blues to Western pop. Her live shows are really where it's at though.
