The late-blooming singer and musician Gnonnas Pedro achieved world-wide fame when he joined the African salsa supergroup Africando in 1996. But he had been well known in his hometown of Cotonou, Benin, since becoming active on the music scene there in the early 1960s.
He has been described as a jack-of-all-trades for his many talents, which included playing trumpet and sax, singing and dancing. He also tailored his style to the vagaries of fashion in a country which has never produced much of a distinctive musical culture due to the overbearing influence of its neighbours.
But it was his early and abiding penchant for Latin sounds which eventually brought him wider recognition in the twilight of his career. Having recorded a single with the French crooner Charles Aznavour in 1964, Pedro spent the Sixties leading his group Pedro y Sus Panchos. They exploited the vogue for Latin music in West Africa at the time, combining it with folklore from the Fon and Yoruba peoples in styles such as agbadja.
Pedro enjoyed popularity in Nigeria during the 1970s with Yoruba highlife hits such as "Feso Jaiye" with his band Orchestra Poly-Rythmo. The following decade his band were known as Ses Dadjes. He recorded prolifically for various labels in Benin, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, and in 1984 began a professional relationship with the influential Senegalese producer Ibrahim Sylla. The following year their single "Les Femmes d'Abord" took much of West Africa by storm.
In 1993, Sylla masterminded the formation of Africando, combining three Senegalese vocalists and the cream of New York's Latin music scene, and sparking off an international craze for African salsa. Sylla asked Pedro to join the group in 1996, a year after the death of their singer Pape Seck. Over their next four albums Pedro was a featured vocalist on songs such as "Dagamasi", "Musica en Vérité", "Dacefo" and "Hwomevonon" - often revived from his earlier career.
Africando toured Europe, the United States and parts of Africa, with Pedro making his UK début at the Equinox Ballroom in London in 1997, where he impressed with his lively dancing, effervescent grin and irrepressible cries of "Yee-hooo!" at the ends of songs. The singer Sekouba "Bambino" Diabaté, who also guested on Africando's albums, recalls Pedro's contribution thus: "He liked his work a lot and really enjoyed giving pleasure to his fans as well. And he was very lively onstage, a real natural entertainer."
La Musica En Verite
Gnonnas Pedro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y a 15 ans a st malo
Quand certains disaient que la musique ne nourrit pas son homme
Mon verre n'ai pas grand mais depuis 15 ans
Je bois toujours dans mon verre
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
Pour moi la musique est toute ma vie
Je m'inspire meme en tout lieu
Mes temps de loisirs sont sacrifiés
Heureux ou même malheureux
Je ferais de sorte pour démontrer
Que la musique nourrit le monde
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musique joue d'important role
Dans le monde vivant ou mort
Je chante je vis je me demande
Quand viendra l'acclamation
Comme récompense l'ingratitude
Sur les critiques auto critique
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
La musica en vérité la musica
In Gnonnas Pedro's song La Musica En Verite, the singer reflects on his life as a musician and the role of music in the world. He begins by reminiscing about his early days as a musician, when some people believed that music was not a viable career path. However, despite the challenges, he has been able to continue pursuing his passion for music for 15 years. He may not have a lot of material wealth, but he has found fulfillment in his music.
For Gnonnas Pedro, music is not just a hobby or a job, it is his entire life. He finds inspiration everywhere he goes and even sacrifices his leisure time in order to practice and perform. He believes that music has the power to nourish the world and is an important part of both the living and the dead. Despite the potential for criticism and ingratitude, Gnonnas Pedro is committed to his love of music and sings about it as a source of truth and meaning in his life.
Overall, La Musica En Verite is a powerful ode to the importance of music in the world and the lives of those who create and consume it. Gnonnas Pedro's lyrics are a reminder of the beauty and power of art, and a testament to the resilience and passion of musicians everywhere.
Line by Line Meaning
Je sors de ma loge comme devant vous
I am stepping out of my dressing room, as I did 15 years ago in St. Malo, when some claimed that music cannot sustain one's livelihood.
Mon verre n'ai pas grand mais depuis 15 ans Je bois toujours dans mon verre
My glass may be small, but for 15 years I have been drinking from it, proving that music can sustain me.
Pour moi la musique est toute ma vie Je m'inspire meme en tout lieu Mes temps de loisirs sont sacrifiés Heureux ou même malheureux Je ferais de sorte pour démontrer Que la musique nourrit le monde
Music is my entire life. I find inspiration everywhere and sacrifice my leisure time, whether happy or sad, to show that music can nourish the world.
La musique joue d'important role Dans le monde vivant ou mort Je chante je vis je me demande Quand viendra l'acclamation Comme récompense l'ingratitude Sur les critiques auto critique
Music plays an important role in both the living and the dead worlds. I sing, I live, and I wonder when my accomplishments will be recognized, knowing that as a reward I may face ingratitude and self-criticism.
La musica en vérité la musica
Music in truth, music.
La musica en vérité la musica
Music in truth, music.
La musica en vérité la musica
Music in truth, music.
La musica en vérité la musica
Music in truth, music.
Contributed by Matthew K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@MohamedCisse-lv8uy
seul ces musiques nostalgiques peuvent faire plaisir aux hommes honnetes de naissances, gnonas attaques contre attaques en romanesques tu nous fait renaitre et revivre avec ce morceau mythique et imperissable qui seras consommer pour toujours , grand merci pour ce cadeau royal.
@MohamedCisse-lv8uy
oh , ma guinee dans le kandouma profond ,ou j'ai embrasser pour la premiere fois ce morceau avec mes ainer du district , c'etait des moments fabuleux et merveilleuse ou la musique avait son sens , et ce son fredonnait aux contours du village a coups repeter ,c'etait vraiment des moments inoubliables.
@armandndefo4837
Seigneur si le temps passé pouvait revenir quand la terre était encore terre
@ericapem2570
Il fut une époque où la musique avait encore tout son sens. Profonde, travaillée, en toute finesse, élégante... Je suis nostalgique d'une époque que je n'ai pas connue car je n'étais pas encore née, malheureusement. Celle de Eboa Lotin, Toto Guillaume, Gnonnas, Jimmy Cliff, Hugh Masekela, Sam Cook etc❤
@lyshchuwm5890
Mon père mettait ce super morceau dans l'autoradio de sa 504 et nous promenais sur les belle routes de Guadeloupe !!
Que de bon souvenir...
@armandndefo4837
Le bon vieux temps
@paulsamgba7379
Une melodie imprissable que le monde ecoutera toujours avec plaisir
@user-tj9lm5fu5t
Des bons moments en Afrique surtout le weekend
@simbon5531
Souvenirs intarissables du concert de 1981 au Centre Culturel Oumarou Ganda de Niamey. Niamey, l'une des villes des plus chaleureuses et accueillantes d'Afrique. Pour Aminata Damouré Zika et pour tous les collègues et amis nigériens du Musée de Niamey. Merci à vous tous pour cette généreuse fraternité africaine.
@leslieafinizoakendengue6023
R.I.P Gonnas Pedro. C'est une partie de ma tendre enfance cette chanson