Salif Keita

Salif Keita

Salif Keita is an afro-pop singer and songwriter from Mali. He is known as the “Golden Voice of Africa” and is also identified as a descendant of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire. Born in 1949 in Koulikoro, he is from Djoliba and moves into music after leaving there for Bamako in 1967.

Career

In Bamako, Keita joins the government-sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako, also known as the Super Rail Band. He later joins Les Ambassadeurs in 1973. During the mid-1970s, he and the group leave Mali because of political unrest and relocate to Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, where the band becomes Les Ambassadeurs Internationales. The group’s profile rises internationally during the 1970s.

Keita moves to Paris in 1984 in order to reach a wider audience. In 1977, he receives a National Order award from Guinea’s president, Sékou Touré. His album M'Bemba is released in 2005.

Style and instrumentation

Keita’s music combines traditional West African forms with influences from Europe and the Americas, while retaining an Islamic character. Instruments commonly associated with his work include balafon, djembe, guitar, kora, organ, saxophone and synthesizer. He is also associated with jùjú.