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”…
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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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Music Performances From Previous Festivals au Désert (In Mali, West Africa)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about the Festival au Désert (Festival in the Desert) in Mali, West Africa and showcases five videos of music performances from previous festivals.

The content of this pancocojams post is published for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the performers who are showcased in these videos. Thanks also to the publishers of the YouTube videos that are embedded in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT (MALI, WEST AFRICA)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_au_D%C3%A9sert
"The Festival au désert ("Festival in the Desert") is an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world. The first Festival took place in Tin Essako in 2001 and then it moved to Tessalit in 2002 in the Kidal region (North-East Mali). From 2003 until 2009 the festival was held in Essakane 65km from Timbuktu but because of security issues, from 2010 the festival was held on the outskirts of Timbuktu.[1][2]

The Tuareg band Tinariwen first garnered international attention with their performance at the 2001 Festival.

A French-language documentary entitled Le Festival au Désert was filmed at the 2003 festival. Performers include Tartit, Oumou Sangaré, Lo'Jo, Tinariwen, Robert Plant with Justin Adams, Blackfire, Khaira Arby and her band, Django, and Ali Farka Touré.[3] The DVD contains English subtitles, and an audio CD of the concert, Festival in the Desert, was also released.

The documentary Dambé: The Mali Project tells the story of a cross-cultural musical adventure over 3000 miles by two Irish musicians, that features performances from the Festival au désert.[4]
Shortly after the January 2012 festival, the Northern Mali conflict began, resulting in the postponement of the 2013 festival.[5] In July and August 2013, Tartit, Imharhan, and Mamadou Kelly toured throughout North America as the Festival au Desert - Caravan for Peace.[5][6][7] An audio recording of the 2012 edition Festival au Desert Live from Timbuktu was released in 2013 featuring performances by 18 artists with supplemental digital bonus performances.

The Festival has continued to be postponed due to security concerns in the region."...

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From https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/30/malis-festival-au-desert-cancelled-amid-fears-of-extremist-violence Mali cancels return of famous music festival after al-Qaida attack

Fabled Festival au Désert was coming back to Timbuktu after years in exile but officials blocked it at last minute over security fears

Ruth Maclean in Dakar, Monday 30 January 2017
"The fabled Festival au Désert was returning to Timbuktu, but it was a carefully guarded secret.

Musicians had packed their instruments for the journey to northern Mali. Technical teams had already loaded their sound systems into canoes and taken the river route to the ancient city of learning. None of the festival-going public had yet been told, but the organisers were confident they would turn out, possibly in their thousands.

It was a secret because it was a potential target for extremists in Mali’s lawless north. Since 2012, the world-famous festival, which attracted Malian nomads and music fans from all over the world, has been in exile, driven from its home in the first place by Islamic extremists who banned music, and kept out ever since by insecurity.

But this weekend was to mark its triumphant return, and a huge amount of effort had gone into organising it.

When militants took over northern Mali in 2012, they applied Sharia law. Women were whipped for wearing clothes deemed indecent, and thieves had their hands cut off. But the militants also banned music in a culture where griots, praise-singers and story-tellers are of great importance, and where music is considered the lifeblood of society.

Though the militants were driven out by a French-led force nine months after they took over, peace talks have been halting and have resulted in little success.

Two weeks ago, however, suicide bombers attacked a military camp in the city of Gao, killing at least 77 people and wounding more than 100 others.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed the attack. Three people have been arrested in connection, according to the Malian minister of security.

The organisers of the Festival in the Desert immediately held meetings to decide what to do, but decided to go ahead with it....

However, at the last minute, Malian officials blocked it.

A music producer who has organised concerts all over Mali in spite of security concerns said that the festival in the desert was about far more than just the music – it was about bringing people together, and reconciling past grievances if need be.

“It wasn’t like going to a concert,” Paul Chandler said. “It became a community for that time. A really open community, and a chance to meet people who were really different from you, and find out that they’re not that different after all. The music was just part of it. The community was the main thing.”...
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Read more about this festival in the summary statement for some of the videos that are found below.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Mali_10 [2007]



Leandre Busquet, Uploaded on Mar 7, 2007

Festival au desert, Essakane 2007

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Example #2: Improvised jam at the Festival au Desert, Mali January 2010


Valentina Canavesio, Uploaded on Aug 31, 2010

Members of Terakaft and Taliwen jam in the desert.

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Example #3: Experience the Festival in the Desert / Festival au Desert



EssakaneFilm, Uploaded on Dec 18, 2011

Essakane Film is a feature length documentary about the most remote music festival in the world—the Festival au Désert—and the battle to make it happen. Once a year, just outside of Timbuktu in the sand dunes of the Sahara, a music festival that serves to sustain peace and resolve regional conflict rocks the socks off an audience of thousands for three days straight. From Robert Plant to Jimmy Buffett, musicians from around the world have journeyed through the mystical terrain of the Sahara to jam with Malian, Tuareg, and West African musicians at the Festival au Désert.

As a homegrown approach to sustaining peace, democracy, and for developing tourism in Mali, the festival has brought significant cultural awareness and economic development to the local communities in the region and the tourism sector in Mali. But sadly, over the past few years, security warnings issued by Western governments have increased, affecting the attendance at the festival and threatening its viability. But that will not stop the festival organizers, the community, and the musicians who rock the stage from putting on another great show.

For more info on The Last Song Before the War:
http://www.thelastsongbeforethewar.com


For more info on the Festival in the Desert:
http://www.festival-au-desert.org/

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Example #4: Mali Blues - Le Monde pour la Paix - For Peace in Mali - Vieux Farka, Bassekou, Khaira Arby



Mali Blues Published on May 13, 2012

Le Monde pour la Paix - by JeConte & The Mali Allstars - The featured track off the coming 2012 release 'Mali Blues for Peace' or 'Mali Blues pour la Paix' written by JeConte & Adama Drame form JeConte & The Mali Allstars featuring guests Vieux Farka Touré, Khaira Arby & Bassekou Kouyate.

"We call on our ancestors to come together for peace... for a better World... for hope in Mali. We ask everyone to hold hands for peace and be one people, one Malian culture uniting for peace in Mali and the World." This is what the words say at the beginning of this powerful track, in Tamashek by Khiara Arby and Songhay by Vieux Farka Toure. Along with the beautiful melodic N'goni work of Bassekou Kouyate we are brought into a better World, a World of home...a World of peace.

JeConte & Adama Drame of the band JeConte & The Mali Allstars worked together on this song, crafting it to its full potential during the eruption of the coup in Mali in March 2012. The footage you see here is behind the scenes footage from the sessions at studio Yeelen in Bamako and also footage from the coup d'etat, Bamako, and the Festival in the Desert outside Timbuktu.

You can learn more about this amazing band and their forthcoming album and tour dates at their website http://www.themaliblues.com./

Mali Blues is gonna get you...

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Example #5: Festival in the Desert - Highlighting Tuareg Culture, Tartit & Tinariwen



MaliDesertFest, Published on May 30, 2013

The Festival in the Desert
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The music begins at .047 in this video.

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