Whenever West African reggae musicians are being discussed two names will almost surely come up: Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly of Cote d’Ivoire. Of these two talented musicians Alpha Blondy is better known worldwide mainly because some of his songs are in English, the "Super Power" among the world’s languages while Jah Fakoly sings mainly in his native Dioula language or French. Alpha also sings in Dioula and other languages but his songs in English and the fact that he lived and studied for a while in New York where he made valuable contacts certainly helped to propel him on to the world stage and to the popularization of what he called "Cocody Rock" and a West African brand of reggae.
Both Fakoly and Blondy are extremely talented and there was a time when there was a heated debate in their country and many parts of the world as to which of the two is better, or more talented but that argument quickly died down as both men have developed a personal and distinct style of music. Alpha’s music is more and more a mixture of outside influences, more soulful and less didactic compared to Fakoly who is more and more devoted to a "conscious" or "conscientizing" kind of music, dealing mainly with social and economic issues plaguing Africa. He is also involved in teaching forgotten aspects of African history to the younger generation of Africans at home and abroad (he was recently in Canada). He is also building schools not only in his country but also other African countries. He can be called an organic intellectual with a microphone. Alpha, who is the older of the two (he was born in 1953 while Fakoly was born in 1968) is little bit conservative compared to his younger and more intense Ivorian brother. Alpha was an inspiration to the younger Fakoly and many African reggae stars although he (Alpha) is less politically involved in his day to day activities as an artist. Both of them however played a hugely significant role during the Ivorian civil war, preaching reconciliation, brotherhood and national unity through their music and by actually meeting with politicians from all the Ivorian political parties. They frequently appeared on Ivorian TV and did numerous radio interviews.
Jah Fakoly, who was born in Odienne, north-western Cote d’Ivoire also shares a similar background with Alpha Blondy. Both of them belong to the Dioula ethnic group, a major ethnic group mainly found in the north of Cote d’Ivoire. Both men have childhood connections to the city of Odienne and they both grew up in poverty and are thus keenly aware and deeply committed to the political, economic and social conditions in their country and the rest of the world.
Jah Fakoly’s ancestry, like that of Alpha, is linked to the griots (African traditional singers and oral historians) and his music continues that didactic and conscientizing role although he and Alpha draw a lot of inspiration from the music of Bob Marley and its Rastafarian philosophy.
Here is Tiken Jah Fakoly performing in Paris, 2008:
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