Ivorian reggae singer introduces Paris to his African Revolution

The Ivorian reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly evoked Tunisia and his homeland at the Cigale concert hall in Paris this week at a concert to promote his new album, African Revolution. The controversial artist, who is persona-non-grata in Senegal for insulting president Abdoulaye Wade in 2007, says he is not ready to give up the fight and will donate a portion of the proceeds of his concerts to building schools in Africa.

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Fans were gushing in their praise, saying Fakoly provides inspiration for people in West Africa and beyond.

“We Africans we are so proud of this man because he is like our messenger to liberate Africa and talk about the truth,” says fellow musician Abdou Day. “That’s why we love Tiken Jah Fakoly. We need someone like that in the world right now.”

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Another fan spoke about Fakoly’s ability to talk “to the people” about “the vision the world has of Africa”.

Bob Marley, who is credited with having brought reggae to Africa in the 1970s, has had an enormous influence on Fakoly,

“I am a reggae maker and Bob Marley is our prophet so we are just following his road,” he says.

And in a similar vein to his mentor, Fakoly’s music takes on the authorities in Africa and in the West.

“It’s a protest album,” he says of African Revolution. “I’m just talking about our waking up. We have to wake up and take our destiny in our hands.”

As well as provoking outrage in Senegal by calling for President Aboulaye Wade to step down in 2007, Fakoly has also offended sensibilities in Côte d'Ivoire.

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He says that he wishes to remain impartial in the current political impasse, between incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and his internationally-backed challenger Alassane Ouattara, but he is often called to take sides.

“The opposition wanted me to do a show for them because my big brother Alpha Blondy did a concert for Laurent Gbabgo in Ivory Coast, and the opposition wanted me to do a show for them,” says Fakoly. “They proposed me a lot of money and I said ‘no’.”

But he concedes that he was disappointed with the way Gbagbo was being portrayed as a ‘resistance’ fighter against a corrupt West, in the same league as Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, or Thomas Sankara.

“It’s a shame. Patrice Lumumba didn’t try to kill his people like Laurent Gbagbo is doing. Thomas Sankara didn’t do that,” he says.