Oumou Sangaré

Standing Up for Women's Rights

Paris 

31/10/2003 - 

After seven years' absence from the recording front, Malian diva Oumou Sangaré makes a long-awaited comeback with her fifth album. Her double CD compilation, simply entitled Oumou, features a selection of greatest hits, bonus remixes and several songs that were only available locally on cassette until now.

Oumou exploded onto the music scene in 1989 with Moussoulou, a debut cassette album that sold a staggering 200,000 copies. Since then the young Peul singer has become an increasingly international star and committed campaigner for African women's rights. Four albums, a multitude of international concerts and one UNESCO music award (2001) later, Oumou Sangaré is back in the spotlight. RFI Musique catches up with the Malian superstar:

RFI Musique: Your last album dates back to 1996. What have you been up to over the last seven years?
Oumou Sangaré: Well, people have had to wait a long time for the new album, but that doesn't mean I've just sat round doing nothing over the last few years. I've been on the road practically non-stop. I've played an enormous number of concerts abroad and performed a lot in neighbouring regions and in Mali. And after all that touring it got to the point where I felt I really needed to have a break and stay home for a bit. I had a baby boy recently, you know, and I felt like I just wasn't getting the time to watch him grow up. It'd got to the point where he scarcely knew who his mother was any more! My time off has been profitable in other ways, too. I've made some investments in Mali, building a little hotel in Bamako called the "Wassoulou." It's named after my home region in the south of Mali.

Oumou is a real collector's album featuring a massive 20 tracks and a lot of previously unreleased material. Bonus tracks include songs that were only available on cassette until now and some excellent remixes of your work. Where did the idea for the remixes come from?
There's a simple reason for the remixes and that is that there's a big demand for them. There's a whole generation of young music fans in Mali and Africa who want to get up and dance to my music, particularly on the club scene. Everywhere I go I hear people saying, "Oumou, we love your music but we want to be able to dance to it more!" So I've simply tried to satisfy my fans – and enjoy myself a bit at the same time, too. Youngsters are really into remixes these days and they certainly get the dancefloor going in the clubs!

As a songwriter you're known for being a fervent campaigner for women's rights. But on your new album you appear to take up a host of other social causes…
My feminist campaigning is still a very big priority for me, but over the years I've become aware of a lot of other problems in African society. And this has made me want to tackle other issues in my songs. There's a song on the new album called Maladon, which roughly translates as "hospitality." That's a subject that's very close to my heart because I've been appalled by the total lack of hospitality in Africa right now. The idea of welcoming fellow human beings into your home used to be a deep-seated part of African culture and tradition. But these days there are certain countries in Africa that drive people out of their homes under the pretext that they're not the "right" nationality. I'm appalled at that! The idea of hospitality and sharing what you have with others is something that's always been typically African. And I insist on that point because I believe these radical changes in mentality should make us sit up and think. What will become of Africa if we have no respect for our traditions?

In terms of female singers the Malian music scene is almost entirely dominated by griottes. How have you managed to carve out a place for yourself?
Well, I think music from Wassoulou has always had its own place on the Malian scene. It's a very danceable style of music where the beat is important and there's a lot of melody in the vocals. But I've always made a point of singing for everyone in Malian society no matter what their caste. And that's what makes me different from the griottes, whose role is to sing the praises of a particular person in a particular song or vaunt the prowess of a noble family. That's the big difference between us and I think that partly explains my popularity in Mali. I'm popular in the sense that my music touches the widest possible audience.

Do you feel that your campaigning for women's rights has brought about any changes? Has women's role in African society started to evolve?
One of the reasons I'm still campaigning is precisely because I've begun to notice a change, although it's only a slight one for now. I consider my fight to be the same as Aminata Traoré's (a sociologist and former Minister of Culture and Tourism in Mali). She's someone who can make a real difference in Mali because she's trying to propose a different vision of society.
As far as I'm concerned, what's happening in Mali is that people are actually trying to listen to women now. And, admittedly, they're trying to give them a more important place in society – although women are obviously still a long way from having the place they deserve. Having said that, however, I have noticed that the women I'm close to like my mother and sisters are becoming increasingly independent. Change is something that's not going to happen overnight, but I feel optimistic that things will come out right in the end.

Oumou Sangaré Oumou (World Circuit/Night & Day) 2003
Concerts in France: Le Bataclan (Paris) 13 November, Rouen 14 November.

Daniel  Lieuze

Translation : Julie  Street