Photo: Mily Clement
Mily Clément had played with numerous bands, including Jaojoby, before he started to sing his own song.

Mily Clement

When Clément was a child, possession ceremonies held in the back yard with his next door neighbor were common occurrences. He heard them so often that in the end, he could no longer bear those songs. When he began his career in Amilobe as a guitarist, he played nothing but American music and African music. In 1988, he joined Jaojoby, but as a drummer after he lost a large part of his guitar-playing. Jaojoby encouraged Clément Mily to write and perform his own songs.

In 1990 Clément was invited to provide entertainment during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Island Games. His song "Tsy moramora mitidy vola" became a national hit, but Clément did not take advantage of the opportunity. In 1991 he took part in Afrovision on the Ivory Coast. In 1993 the International Conversation Organization used his song "Mandrora Mantsilany" for a consciousness-raising campaign on the subject of deforestation in Madagascar.

— Courtesy Calabash Music