When she was only 12, Dobet Gnahoré assertively informed her father that she no longer wanted to attend school. Rather, she wanted to learn to sing, dance and perform by immersing herself in the vibrant pan-African community of musicians, artists, actors and dancers who frequented the renowned artist co-operative, Ki-Yi M’Bock, that her father co-founded in 1985 on the outskirts of Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast.
Impressed by her independent stance and clear vision, her father, master percussionist Boni Gnahoré, obliged. Dobet’s subsequent arts education is conveyed in the subtle and sometimes overt layers of African rhythms interwoven throughout her music and in her ability to sing in the indigenous Ivorian languages of Dida and Malinké, Senegal’s Wolof, Benin’s Fon, Congo’s Lingala and South Africa’s Xhosa, as well as French.
The track “Djiguene” pays homage to the women of the world who fight for freedom, heal sickness, cultivate the earth and feed the youth, while “Khabone-n’Daw” mourns for the children survivors of incest and harshly critiques their abusers. In addition to a yodelling tribute to the pygmies and a short a cappella lament, there are also several praise songs and uplifting dance tunes.
Though clearly influenced by such critically acclaimed vocalists as South Africa’s Miriam Makeba and Benin’s Angelique Kidjo, Gnahoré has a distinctly powerful, yet gentle sound of her own. Complemented with sweet harmonies and the steady groove of sensuous guitar and percussion riffs, her soothing, velvety voice makes Na Afrikia pleasurable experience.
