Aya Nakamura

When Aya Nakamura unveiled the track list for her third album, excitement was at boiling point. It was announced that the album would contain the two singles, Doudou and Jolie Nana (which could already be heard all over since summer 2020) and tracks featuring English artists, namely Stormzy and Ms Banks. We were starting to think that the Bamako native was internationalising her music, drawing more and more inspiration from Nigerian afro-beat sounds so as to increase overseas appeal. But this is not the case here.

Aya is definitively French-sounding with its mixing of African, Latin, Caribbean and rap rhythms in a way that is exclusive to France. The album shines thanks to its many influences and the extremely precise and skillful production led, among others, by Julio Masis and the beatmaker team Le Side (who had already produced her hits Pookie and Djadja). The song formats are conventionally radio-sounding, all are based on similar structures, and the themes are somewhat outdated (love, rivalries, gossip…).

However, several tracks break free from this formula. Firstly, La Machine sees Aya Nakamura settle some scores. She has endured racism, sexism and her private life exposed as she rose to fame. Another exception is Nirvana and its charming Nigerian influences, or Préféré, a rather explicit track featuring Oboy(who was also coached by Le Side).

When she is more lyrical, like on Fly, the singer can get caught up in some daring but less moving melodies. But no matter. Her album is set to be a huge success (Jolie Nana has topped the singles charts), and the new facets that she displays here, notably that of a fundamentally romantic woman offers something new to her discography. For this, Aya is a real success.

LISTEN TO "AYA" BY AYA NAKAMURA ON QOBUZ

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