Malian singer/musician Rokia Traoré - "Titati" and "Africa Unite" (information, video, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases Malian singer/musician/songwriter Rokia Traoré performing the songs "Titati" composed by Bako Dagnon, and "Africa Unite", composed by Bob Marley.

Information about Rokia Traoré is included in this post along with selected comments from this video's discussion thread. Special attention is given to the comment given as #24 below which includes a summary in French (translated to English) of the song "Titati".

The Addendum to this post presents information about "Rokia" which is a form of the Arabic female name .

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The content of this post is presented for cultural, onomastic, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Rokia Traoré for her musical legacy and thanks to all those who are featured in this performance. Thanks to the composers of these two songs and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT ROKIA TRAORE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokia_Traor%C3%A9
"Rokia Traoré (born January 26, 1974) is a Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist.

She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. Bowmboï (2003) won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004[1] and Tchamantché (2008) won Victoires de la Musique World Music Album of the Year in 2009. Traoré won Best Artist in the Songlines Music Awards in 2009.[2]

She is a member of the Bambara ethnic group.

Biography
Traoré's father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was exposed to a wide variety of influences. Her hometown of Kolokani is in the northwestern part of Mali's Koulikoro region.

While the Bambara have a tradition of griot performing at weddings, members of the nobility, such as Rokia, are discouraged from performing as musicians. Rokia attended lycée in Mali while her father was stationed in Brussels and started performing publicly as a university student in Bamako. She plays acoustic guitar as well as sings, and uses vocal harmonies in her arrangements which are rare in Malian music. She also plays ngoni (lute) and balafon.

In 1997 Traoré linked with Mali musician Ali Farka Touré which raised her profile.

She was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[3][4]

Recordings
Her first album Mouneïssa (Label Bleu), released in late 1997 in Mali and September 1, 1998 in Europe, was acclaimed for its fresh treatment and unqualifiable combinations of several Malian music traditions such as her use of the ngoni and the balafon. It sold over 40,000 copies in Europe.

On July 11, 2000, her second album Wanita was released. Traoré wrote and arranged the entire album.

Her 2003 album Bowmboï has two tracks recorded with the Kronos Quartet but still sung in the Bamana language.

Her album Tchamantché was released on May 6, 2008, followed in 2013 by her album Beautiful Africa.

She wrote the music for the 2011 Toni Morrison play Desdemona.[5]

[...]

Genres: World music, Electroacoustic, Afro-beat, Folk”…
-snip-
Here's information about the Bambara language:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambara_language
"The Bambara (Bamana) language, Bamanankan, is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 15 million people, natively by 5 million Bambara people and about 10 million second-language users. It is estimated that about 80 percent of the population of Mali speak Bambara as a first or second language. It has a subject–object–verb clause structure and two lexical tones. The native name bamanankan means "the language (kan) of heathens (bámànán), people who refuse Islam",[3] as opposed to speakers of Dyula, who are Muslim.[4]”...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Rokia Traoré - Projet Roots au 104



MONDOMIX, Published on Sep 29, 2012

Extraits du projet Roots de Rokia Traoré présenté en Décembre 2011 au 104 à Paris.…
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Extracts from the project Roots Rokia Traore presented in December 2011 to 104 in Paris"...
-snip-
The first song is "Titati" composed by Bako Dagnon.

The second song is "Africa Unite" composed by Bob Marley.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Salifou Traore, 2012
"Nous t'aimons Rokia.Pas seulement la jeune mariée.Tu as une voie d'or.Continue comme ca Rokia.Tu représente la culture Africaine plus précisement la Malienne.Il ne faut pas etre comme les chanteurs qui ne chantent que seulement pour l'argent et leurs Chansons n'ont aucune signification.Bravooooo Rokia"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"We love you Rokia.Not just the bride.You have a golden way.Continue like that Rokia.Tu represents the African culture more specifically the Malian.Il do not be like the singers who only sing for the Money and their Songs Have No Significance.Bravooooo Rokia"

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REPLY
2. Kutha Sonwar, 2012
"Nuf respect"

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3. Irebuka, 2012
"If God were singing this how she would sound"

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4.
هرجيساوي وافتخر صوماللاند
2012
"love it vive mama afreica"

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5. kader lassina toure, 2012
"Une jouissance . Big up"
-snip-
Google translate French to English: "une jouissance" = "enjoyment"

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6. Osmar Revenga, 2012
"Excelente, es pura escencia y espiritu africano. Hermosa voz."
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English:
"Excellent, it is pure essence and African spirit. Beautiful voice."

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7. Leïla Rainey, 2012
"C'est TITATI , une chanson de Bako Dagnon, à la base..."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English
"It's TITATI, a song by Bako Dagnon, at the base ..."

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8. Mczak, 2013
"Masterpiece indeed"

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9. E Scotty, 2013
"When Rokia sings "Africa Unite" she brings about the unification of all African People.
Though this song is from our Jamaican Bob Marley, Rokia being from the Mother Continent and singing in her African dialect, solidifies the significance of it's meaning.
She relates to it obviously. So much so, that she sings about it. My favorite performance.
Her beautiful African voice together with her backup singers and the haunting sounds of the ancient instruments in a resounding favorite of mine."

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REPLY
10. Brian Long, 2016
"Many of Bob Marley's lyrics come from Marcus Garvey speeches and writings as some of these lines are in the spirit of Marcus Garvey and his writings on the unity of Africans, Africans in Africa, and Africans in exile in Babylon."

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11. Eduardo Riv, 2014
"Hermosas voces, bellas mujeres, música, tradición. Viva África!!!"
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English:
"Beautiful voices, beautiful women, music, tradition. Live Africa !!!"

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12. alexander62, 2014
"Which african country are they coming from?"

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REPLY
13. Kotoka A, 2014
"@alexander62 Mali, West Africa"

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15. Rachid Bacchus, 2015
"c'est quoi cette instrument auquel elle joue SVP?"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"what is this instrument she is playing with, please?"

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REPLY
16. duvalbrice, 2015
"+Rachid Bacchus Rokia Traoré joue de la Sanza. Mama Diabaté joue du djeli n'goni (hoddu). Il ya aussi une kora (harpe) et un bolon (la basse)"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"+ Rachid Bacchus Rokia Traoré plays the Sanza. Mama Diabate plays djeli n'goni (hoddu). There is also a kora (harp) and a bolon (the bass)"
-snip-
“Mbira” is another African term for the “sanza” musical instrument.

"bolon" may be another name for "balafon"

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17. Paulo Moda, 2015
"the instrument Rokia is playing is related Mbira instrument."

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REPLY
18. Azizi Powell, 2019
"The mbira is an instrument from the African continent. It is sometimes called the 'thumb piano' because it is played with the thumbs and one finger. "https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-mbira-instrument-history-music.html

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19. akaloyal, 2016
"what language is this?"

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REPLY
20. Theo Mareschal, 2017
" " what language is this? " It's the universal language of music and sharing !"

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REPLY
21. Azizi Powell, 2019
"@Theo Mareschal at least one other commenter identified this language as Bambara (Bamana)

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22. mohamed cisse, 2016
"One love!"

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23. Mathilde Trucmuche, 2016
"par le plus grand des hasards, quelqu'un ici saurait traduire ou juste retranscrire les paroles de la première chanson ( Titati) ???? merci ! 😀"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"by the greatest chance, someone here could translate or just transcribe the lyrics of the first song (Titati) ???? thank you ! 😀"

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REPLY
24. Brian Long, 2016
"I do not speak French, but here is a French translation I found from Baba Toure which was posted on the YouTube video of Titati by Bako Dagnon, who originally composed the song. Yesterday I asked a Malian acquaintance what Titati means in English. She said that the word titati is a Bambara/Mandinka word that cannot be translated.
Here is Baba Toure's translation:
"C'est à toi que je pense cheri il n'est pas bien d'aimer quelqu'un qui ne donne pas de l'avenir à l'amour. De tendre l'oreille pour la chanson de didadi (d'amour), l'homme meurt pour sa femme, et la femme pour son homme. n'agis pas en fonction de ta colère, nul ne saurait dire tout ce qu'il ressent l'amoureux n'a pas de défaut qu'on m'insulte ou qu'on me frappe pour toi tout ça fait parti de l'amour que je ressens pour toi, quand la femme dit qu'elle n'aime pas une personne de l'age de son papa, c'est parce qu'elle ne l'aime pas, quand elle l'aime elle ne voit plus l'age. quand on te donne à quelqu'un qui t'aime tu es contente de te marier, et si tel n'est pas le cas c'est le début de la tristesse. si vous ne me donnez à la personne que j'aime j'irai sans vous donner des suites ....
c'est l'essentiel un peu hein je ne comprends pas tout aussi"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"I think you are dear to me, it is not good to love someone who does not give a future to love." To listen to the song of didadi (of love) , the man dies for his wife, and the woman for his man does not act according to your anger, no one can say everything he feels the lover has no fault insulting or striking me for you all that is part of the love I feel for you, when the woman says she does not like a person of her dad's age, it's because she does not like her, when she loves him she does not see age anymore, when you are given to someone who loves you you are happy to get married, and if that is not the case is the beginning of sadness, if you do not give me to the person I love, I will go without giving you any consequences ....
it's essential a bit eh I do not understand just as much "

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REPLY
25. Brian Long, 2016
"I just spoke with a Malian friend today, and he said that the word Titati is a style of dance and dancing that Malians love, and that the translation above in French is accurate."

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26. Fakoly Doumbia, 2018
"GOD BLESS MY MANDÉ AND MY BLACKS ONE LOVE"
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mand%C3%A9_peoples
"Mandé is a family of ethnic groups in Western Africa who speak any of the many related Mande languages of the region. Various Mandé groups are found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The Mandé languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé.

The Mandinka and Malinke people, two western branches of the Mandé, are credited with the founding of the largest ancient west African empires. Other numerous Mandé groups include the Soninke, Susu, Bambara, and Dyula. Smaller groups include the Ligbi, Vai, and Bissa."...

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27. VideoAdventures, 2018
"Oh, this is excellent! The video director and his camera operators are so restrained and measured in their presentation of the musicians. The editing effects enhance the performance. And the audio is better than if I sat in the audience.

I can only hope I have the opportunity to work with such beautiful voices and players."

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28. Santosh Bevaart, 2019
"Titati i know that song under another name: Jarabi or Diaraby.. already played before by various different artists...Toumani Diabaté, Ali Farka Touré and Sona Jobarteh, and probably more....
Wonderful anyway!"

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29. matt anstett, 2019
"music speaks straight to the heart. could not be more pure"

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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT THE NAME "ROKIA"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruqayya
"Ruqayya (Arabic: رقيّة‎) (also spelled Ruqaiya, Ruqayyah, Ruqaiyyah, Ruqaya, Rukaiya, Rakeya, Rakeyah etc.) is an Arabic female given name meaning "rise, ascent, ascending", "chant or recite Divine Words".[1] It is derived either from Arabic رقى (ruqia) meaning "rise, ascent" or from رقية (ruqyah) meaning "spell, charm, incantation". It also means "enchanting, bewitching or of being armed against sorcery".[2] Ruqayyah is the name of a daughter of the Islamic prophet Mohammad and wife of third Rashidun caliph Uthman.

Famous people called Ruqayya include:

Ruqayyah bint Husayn, daughter of Husayn - grandson of Muhammad.

Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, daughter of Muhammad and Khadija bint Khuwaylid.

Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, first wife and chief consort of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Ruqaya Al-Ghasra, a Bahraini athlete. She was one of the first women to represent Bahrain at the Olympic Games.

Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i, Nigerian minister of Education.

Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood, British Muslim author and winner of the Global Peace and Unity Lifetime Achievement Award for literature.

Ruqayyah Boyer, a Dutch-Guyanese model and the current title holder of Miss Guyana Universe.

Ruqaiya Hasan, a professor of linguistics, she has researched and published widely in the areas of verbal art, culture, context, text, lexicogrammar and semantic variation."

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