RFI Musique - - Album review - Tiken Jah Fakoly

Album review

Tiken Jah Fakoly

Radio libre

Paris

17/04/2009 -

Tiken Jah Fakoly's mini-album Radio libre has been exclusively released in just a handful of African countries. On this ultra-topical missive, Ivory Coast's most outspoken reggae star goes back to the militant style that helped forge his popularity.

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Tiken Jah Fakoly is a man who believes in striking whilst the iron is hot and he could not conceive of waiting until his next official album (scheduled for international release in 2010) to voice the concerns closest to his heart. Like the legendary Jamaican stars who injected reggae with a social and political dimension, Tiken has chosen to comment on world events while they are still in the news. And Radio libre is infused with the same sense of vibrant urgency that drove the Ivorian activist into the studio to "refresh General Guei's memory" on his album Caméléon (released in 2000).

Tiken and his musicians recorded all eight tracks on Radio libre while they were out on the road touring France at the end of 2008. Constructing makeshift studios backstage at various stop-offs during the tour, Tiken made the immediacy of his message his priority. On Changement historique, for instance, he reacts to Barack Obama's arrival in the White House while on Mon Général he condemns the recent military coup in Mauritania.

Interestingly enough, Tiken's spontaneous reaction to world events appears to make for better songwriting than when he teams up with co-authors. The Ivorian reggaeman has a knack for hitting upon unusual expressions and witty turns of phrase. "In Conakry electricity's like going to the barber's, everyone must wait their turn!" he quips on La Guinée, making sardonic reference to the power cuts that hit the Guinean capital's different neighbourhoods in waves. Tiken recently became an official ambassador for Rasalao and Radio libre includes a poignant song dedicated to the West African Action Network campaigning against the use of small arms.

The rest of Radio libre is comprised of dub reworkings of Tiken Jah Fakoly classics such as Foly (Hommage aux panafricains) and Soldier. These are the work of the reggae star's resident sound engineer, FX, who has deftly re-cut, remodelled and recycled the raw material on which Tiken's album L’Africain was based. FX has even breathed new life into Rastaman (a track that was finally left off L'Africain). And this is a real surprise, although Rastaman is not officially a never-before-released bonus track. The song originally appeared on Tiken's first ever cassette album in 1994 - which, like Radio libre, was exclusively released in Africa!