Barokan

Singer Djely Tapa is the daughter of the great Malian diva Kandia Kouyaté, aka La Grande Vedette Malienne, arguably one of the finest female singers to come out of West Africa in recent times. It’s little wonder, then, that Tapa is blessed with a voice of some import, an instrument that, while not quite conjuring the same exquisite majesty of Kandia (whose most recent 2015 album Renascence was released following her recovery from a stoke), is nonetheless imbued with power and grace. Tapa – whose given name is Sountougoumba Diarra – was raised by her grandmother in a village in western Mali before decamping to Bamako, receiving a science degree and going on to study aeronautics in Montréal.

Her lineage as a griot, however, saw Djely Tapa co-opted by that city’s African community and performing with several groups as a result. Barokan is Tapa’s solo debut, and a 2020 Juno Award winner. It’s a defiant recording, grounded in ancestral values, sung in Mandinka, Bamana and Kassonke and produced by Chadian DJ AfrotroniX, whose spacey electronics sparkle and flare alongside kora, guitar and traditional percussion. Themes are both celebratory (the strength of Malian women) and cautionary (the protection of water resources), and Tapy’s ebullient presence, particularly on standout tracks ‘Pachagon’ and ‘Départ Pour Lune’, help make this a winner.