Fatoumata Diawara shares single feat. -M- taken from new album 'London Ko', co-produced by Damon Albarn
Photo © Shelby Duncan
Fatoumata Diawara has recently announced the release of her new album ‘London Ko’ through Wagram Music on 12th May. Co-produced by Diawara, Daniel Florestano and Damon Albarn, the new album includes a host of guest musicians, including Damon Albarn, Angie Stone, Roberto Fonseca, M.anifest and Yemi Alade.
On 'Massa Den', the new single out today, Fatoumata reunites with her old touring partner from Lamomali, -M-, (who she also worked with on her previous record 'Fenfo'). "Massa Den' is an ode to love, a delicious mix of her voice and guitar with the brilliant sounds of -M-.
Fatou explains: "Love is free, love cannot be forced upon someone. Let those who love each other be together. Who has upset the man my heart and soul have chosen? Who is talking behind my lover’s back. He is the one who carries the hope of a nation on his shoulders. Don’t mess about with Mansaden, the king’s son, the prince and the man I love!"
LISTEN TO 'MASSA DEN' FEAT. -M- HERE
WATCH 'MASSA DEN' FEAT. -M- VIDEO HERE
"Massa Den' follows the album's debut track ‘Nsera’(co-written and co-produced by Damon Albarn).
Fatoumata continues to reinvent traditional African music on ‘London KO’ having taken us back to her Mandinka roots in recent projects such as Maliba and Le Vol du Boli with Abderrahmane Sissako.
Still rewriting the rules, Fatoumata plunges us back into her eclectic, avant-garde universe. With the different styles and approaches she brings to her music (afrobeat, jazz, pop, electro and even hip hop), ‘London KO’ is an album that’s impossible to categorise. “I put all my love, my soul and my body into the creative process for this album,” she says.
Sharper than ever lyrically, Diawara strikes a perfect balance between contemporary synthetic sounds and traditional Malian rhythms. The track ‘Dambe’ (roughly translated as ‘the values of tradition’) clearly sets out her intentions as an artist: to present fresh ideas and reinvent herself. Adept at shifting between avant-garde styles and tributes to her ancestors, the mixture of genres can be understood as a means of emancipation. Fatoumata also plays with geographic spaces, as we see in the title of the album, ‘London KO’. It’s a neologism that’s also symbolic of her collaboration with Damon Albarn, which gives rise to a new world, a fusion of Bamako and London. A nod to the richness of mixing cultures and of being open to the ‘other’. A true connoisseur of African music, Damon Albarn co-produces and performs on six of the fourteen tracks. As Diawara reflects, “For me, ‘London KO’ means opening your mind. It also represents Damon Albarn’s connection to Malian music.”
Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara's music remains hard to classify: Afropop, Afrofolk, Afrofutursim. Somewhere between tradition and modernity, guitar in hand, she mixes wassoulou rhythms and West African vocal techniques with contemporary sounds.
Her Grammy-nominated second album ‘Fenfo’ was released in 2018 to universal critical acclaim. Diawara has previously worked and toured with some of the biggest names in contemporary music, including Bobby Womack, Herbie Hancock, Damon Albarn, Sir Paul McCartney, David Crosby, Amadou and Mariam and many others. She continues to pursue a successful career as an actress, including an acclaimed appearance in 2014´s Timbuktu (Le chagrin des oiseaux), which received both BAFTA and Academy Award nominations. Fatoumata, who won ‘Best Female Artist’ at 2020's African Talent Awards, has also co-starred in Damon Albarn and Abderrahmane Sissako’s theatre project ‘Le Vol du Boli’. Last year, Fatoumata released ‘Maliba’ a collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture platform. The seven new songs formed the soundtrack to a special online presentation of the legendary Timbuktu Manuscripts, which celebrated centuries of Malian culture.
On ‘London KO’ Fatoumata creates new imaginary worlds, as illustrated by the first track ‘Nsera’ and the vibrant accompanying video by Gregory Ohrel. This is an artist who understands the true value of the graphic universe. Diawara presents an uncomplicated relationship with Africa, dismantling the unconscious collective stereotype of the continent and its diaspora. Her aesthetic invites us on a cosmic journey, moving through myth into reality.
Drawing on the numerous global collaborations that have shaped her journey so far, Fatoumata continues to invite special guests into her world, including rising stars from the African continent in Ghanaian rapper M.anifest on the track ‘Mogokan’ ( meaning ‘gossip’) and Nigeria’s new voice in Afrobeat, Yemi Alade on ‘Tolon’ (a call to celebration). On ‘Somaw’ we find African/American neo-soul pioneer Angie Stone singing about the pain of distance. On the track ‘Blues’, Cuban piano virtuoso Roberto Fonseca pays tribute to those we don’t see. Fatoumata also reunites with her old touring partner -M- on two songs, including ‘Massa Den’, an ode to love. On the track ‘Sete’, their resounding praise of women is elevated by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, a choir made up of children from all backgrounds. On ‘London KO’ Fatoumata Diawara’s music conjures a prophetic vision of what Africa can do. She invents an alternative space and time where it is possible to become master of your own destiny. Positioning herself as an actor in a future world, this album raises Fatoumata Diawara into the ranks of the great voices of Afrofuturism.
Fatoumata Diawara is about to embark on a World Tour, starting in North America this week, and moving to Europe at the end of May. She has also been confirmed for this year's End of the Road Festival.
FULL DATES
North America
April 14—Chan Centre For The Performing Arts -Vancouver, BC, Canada
April 15—Meany Hall for the Performing Arts - Seattle, WA, US
April 16—Miner Auditorium
April 18—Portland, OR—Portland Jazz Festival
April 19—Inglewood, CA—The Miracle Theater
April 21—Phoenix, AZ—MIM Music Theater
April 25—Easton, PA—Williams Center for the Arts
April 27—Northampton, MA—BOMBYX Center For Arts & Equity
April 28—Boston, MA—City Winery
April 29—Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Bowl
Europe
May 23—Lille, FR—Théâtre Sébastopol Lille
May 24—Paris, FR—Salle Pleyel
May 26—Arnhem, NE—Musis & Stadstheater
May 27—Groningen, NL—De Oosterpoort
May 28—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
May 30—Den Haag, NL—Paard
May 31—Brussels, BE—Ancienne Belgique
June 16—Saint-Chamond, FR—Festival Rue des Artistes
June 18—Neuchâtel, CH—Festi’neuch
June 21 – Clichy-la-garenne , FR - Fête de la Musique
June 23—Périgny, FR—Festival Notes En Vert
June 24—Fontainebleau, FR—Festival Django Reinhardt
June 25—Montauban, FR—Montauban en Scènes
June 29—Belfort, FR—Les Eurockéennes
June 30—Nort-sur-Erdre, FR—Festival La Nuit de l’Erdre
July 2—Autrans, FR—Vercors Music Festival
July 5—Copenhagen, DK—Copenhagen Jazz Festival
July 7—Brussels, BE—Saule @ La Semo
July 8—St-Clair, FR—Festival Beauregard Hérouville
July 9—Saint-Malô-du-Bois, FR—Poupet Festival
July 13—Ravenna, IT—Palazzo San Giacomo Russi
July 15—Cartagena, ESP—Festival La Mar de Músicas
July 17—Istambul, TUR—Istambul Jazz Festival
July 19 – Juan les Pins, FR – Jazz à Juan
July 22 – Mèze, FR – Festival de Thau
July 25—Berlin, DE—Sommer Open-Air-Musikfestival
July 26—Jena, DE—Kulturarena
July 27—Herzberg, DE—Herzberg Festival
July 28—Karlsruhe, DE—Zeltival Tolhaus
July 30—Marciac, FR—Jazz in Marciac
August 5—Vertheuil, FR—SunSka Festival
August 11—Locorotondo, IT—Locus Festival
Aug 31/Sept 3—Larmer Tree Gardens, UK - End of the Road Festival
November 17—Geneva, CH—Festival Les Créatives
November 19—Rome, IT—Romaeuropa Festival
November 20—Florence, IT—H/Earthbeat Festival
November 30—Luxembourg, LUX—Den Atelier
'LONDON KO' TRACKLISTING:
1. NSERA feat. Damon Albarn
2. SOMAW feat. Angie Stone
3. SETE
4. SEGUEN
5. MASSA DEN feat. -M-
6. MOGOKAN feat. M.anifest
7. BLUES feat. Roberto Fonseca
8. MOUSSOYA
9. NETARA
10. YADA
11. TOLON feat. Yemi Alade
12. DAMBE
13. DAKAN
14. MAYA
WATCH 'NSERA' VIDEO FEAT. DAMON ALBARN HERE
PRE-ORDER 'LONDON KO' HERE
PRAISES FOR FATOUMATA DIAWARA'S LAST ALBUM 'FENFO'
"Seven years, it turns out, ain’t but a blink of the eye when you’re waiting for a superstar to arrive” ★★★★ MOJO
"One of the finest, most inventive female singers in Mali" The Guardian
"The comeback of the year" Top of the World ★★★★ Songlines
“Diawara’s voice is a supple and enchanting instrument” 8/10 Uncut
“Fatoumata Diawara from Mali is a rising star of African Music” ★★★★Evening Standard
“World music with attitude, demanding to be heard in the mainstream” ★★★★ Daily Express
“swirling guitar riffs, racing percussion and sparkling kora” ★★★★ Financial Times
