Les Amazones d’Afrique is a pan-African supergroup created by singers Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Mariam Doumbia in 2014: their agenda on this second album released on the Peter Gabriel-founded label Real World is both to fight for women’s rights and to overturn the patriarchy.
Their album Amazones Power brings together divas from Mali (Mamani Keïta, Rokia Koné, Ami Yerewolo), Benin (Fafa Ruffino), Guinea (Niariu), Burkina Faso (Kandy Guira) and Algeria (Nacera Ouali Mesbah), and puts their vocal expertise together with modern arrangements concocted by Liam Farrell, better known under his alias Doctor L (Mbongwana Star, Bantou Mentale…). Hip-hop, afrobeat, dub and electro rhythms host ancestral and synthetic percussion, with both vintage and electric keyboards, frenzied guitars and powerful bass.
Les Amazones d'Afrique - Amazones Power (Official Video)
Real World RecordsRecorded between Dakar and Paris, this bouncing and soul-filled manifesto also sees a few male sympathisers take to the mic, such as the queer rappers from the Parisian trio Nyoko Bokbae (Douranne “Boy” Fall and Magueye “Jon Grace” Diouk) on Heavy or the Malian reggaeman Koko Dembelé who features alongside Mamani Keïta on Timbuktu and Dogon.
Les Amazones d'Afrique - Heavy (feat. Niariu, Boy Fall & Jon Grace) [Official Video]
Real World RecordsA 5-star cast which produces a variety of ambiances, further reinforcing the militant purpose of the Qobuzissime Amazones Power!
