Oumou Dioubate

Oumou Dioubate comes from Kankan, Guinea. Her mother, Gnamakoro Kante, was a well known singer, and Oumou began singing at the age of seven. When her mother suddenly died, Oumou, then 13, took her place in the traditional Kankan Ensemble. The teenager then married a relative who was a teacher and musician, and the couple moved to Conakry, Guinea's capital.

There they formed the band Les Messagers de Morfing, and Oumou developed a more modern singing style. Soon, however, Oumou Dioubate decided to go her own way, and in the mid-1980s, she relocated to Paris. It was there that she had her breakthrough as a backing singer for Ismael Lo on his N'Diawar album. The producer Ibrahim Sylla heard her and decided to make a solo album with her called Lancey. The album was a great success in Guinea in the '90s when, after a long wait, it was finally released.

The reason for the delay was Oumou Dioubate's provocative lyrics. She sings, among other things, about how she will perform a traditional dance, naked, in order to become pregnant. When she returned from Paris, it was impossible for her to live together with her husband. She earned sufficient money from Lancey to enable her to buy a new house for herself and her child.

Oumou Dioubate is a much discussed and disputed artist in Guinea and has had to withstand many rumors and personal attacks for her modern and open style.

— Courtesy Calabash Music