Oumou Dioubaté

b. c.1964, Kankan, Guinea. Born into a family of ‘jelis' (hereditary praise singers), Dioubate started singing at the age of seven. Six years later her mother, Gnamakoro Kante, died and Oumou replaced her as the singer with the traditional Kankan Regional Ensemble. She married her cousin, a musician and teacher, with whom she moved to Conakry (the Guinean capital) and formed Les Messagers De Morifing Diabate in 1983. She began to develop a modern style with outspokenly feminist lyrics. Moving to Paris in the mid-80s, she was spotted in 1987 by the renowned producer Ibrahima Sy...