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The year 2000 saw Nahawa Doumbia establish herself as one of the leading singers of Wassoulou music, as the pentatonic sound of southern Mali is known. A haven of strong women vocalists, Doumbia's Yaala album and her collaboration with French DJ Frederic Galliano pushed her firmly into the public eye. Born in Mafélé, near the border with the Ivory Coast, Doumbia was raised by her grandmother, her mother having died shortly having given birth to her. But before she died, she predicted her daughter would be a singer -- something surprising, since she didn't come from the jeli caste, the hereditary singers. It was something her grandparents tried to fight, but it seemed as if the prediction was correct. Doumbia would sing with her friends, and was eventually discovered in 1980 by civil servants from the country's Ministry of Culture, and persuaded to sing in the National Youth Week, organized by the Ministry to discover new talent. Doumbia won the contest, singing "Tinye De La Laban," whi...