Traoré was born in Kolokani, Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group. As her father was a diplomat, she travelled widely in her youth travelling to Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium. As a result of this travel, she was exposed to a wide variety of influences.
The Bambara also had a tradition of griot performing at weddings although members of the nobility such as Traoré are discouraged from performing as musicians. Traoré attended lycée in Mali when her father was stationed in Brussels and started performing publicly. As well as guitar she plays ngoni (lute) and balafon.
In 1997 she linked with Mali musician Ali Farka Touré which raised her profile. She won a Radio France Internationale prize as African discovery of 1997, an honor previously won by Mali's Habib Koité in 1993.
Her first album Mouneïssa (Label Bleu), released in late 1997 in Mali and 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.
In 2000, her second album Wanita was released. Traoré wrote and arranged the whole album. The album was widely acclaimed with the New York Times nominating it as one of its critics' albums of the year.
Her 2003 album Bowmboï has two tracks recorded with the Kronos Quartet but still sung in the Bambara language, and was awarded the prestigious BBC 3 World Music Award. As of 2005, she has been nominated three times for this award.
In 2008, her latest album "Tchamantché" was released.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré’s Beautiful Africa will be released on April 1, 2013, by Nonesuch Records in France and April 8, 2013 in Europe, Canada and USA. The record was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse) and recorded at Toybox Studios in Bristol, UK. Its lyrics are sung in the Malian–born Traoré’s native languages of French and Bambara, as well as some English.
Pitchfork described Traoré’s most recent record, 2009’s Tchamantché, as “a guitar album of a particularly understated bent...hauntingly spare yet ridiculously well-defined, the timbre and tone of every string presented in perfect resolution.” And the BBC World Service called it “One of the best albums of the year. An absolute stunner.” Tchamantché also won a Victoires de la Musique (the equivalent of a Grammy Award in France) and a Songlines Artist of the Year Award for Traoré.
The daughter of a Malian diplomat who was posted to the US, Europe, and the Middle East, Traoré studied sociology in Brussels before embarking on her musical career. Although based in Bamako, Traoré has, for her son’s safety, temporarily relocated to Paris due to the current conflict in Mali. Her music draws upon her homeland’s traditions as well as the European and American rock and pop she has listened to throughout her life.
Traoré has explored a breadth of directions in her career. She recently collaborated with Nobel Prize–winning novelist Toni Morrison and MacArthur “Genius” Grant winning director Peter Sellars on the theater piece Desdemona. The piece premiered in Vienna in the summer of 2011 and received its New York premiere at Lincoln Center that fall; its UK premiere was at the Barbican in London in the summer of 2012. The Guardian called it “a remarkable, challenging and bravely original new work.”
The Barbican also produced a three-night series of shows by Traoré that summer, entitled Donguili – Donke – Damou (Sing – Dance – Dream). For the Sing evening, held at the Barbican, Traoré and mandolinist/former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones joined young musicians from Traoré’s training program in Mali, Foundation Passerelle. Dance, at the Village Underground rock club, featured Traoré and her band playing the high-energy, danceable shows she is well known for—joined by Parish on guitar. And for Dream, which took place in an East End theater, Traoré narrated an ancient Malian tale, with occasional musical interludes. Australia’s Sydney Festival also presented Donguili – Donke – Damou in January 2013. Traoré was awarded the inaugural Roskilde Festival World Music Award in 2009 for her work with Foundation Passerelle.
In the autumn of 2012, Traoré joined Damon Albarn’s UK train tour Africa Express, performing scheduled concerts in Middlesbrough, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol, and London as well as pop-up performances at railway stations, schools, factories, offices, shopping centers, and private homes. Other musicians on the tour included John Paul Jones, Amadou Bagayoko, Baaba Maal, and Paul McCartney.
Wanita
Rokia Traoré Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hadirmu melengkap hubungan manusia
Bukan sahaja dirindui yang biasa
Malah Adam turut sunyi tanpa Hawa
Akalmu senipis bilahan rambut
Tebalkanlah ia dengan limpahan ilmu
Jua hatimu bak kaca yang rapuh
Tercipta engkau dari rusuk lelaki
Bukan dari kaki untuk dialasi
Bukan dari kepala untuk dijunjung
Tapi dekat dibahu untuk dilindung
Dekat jua di hati untuk dikasihi
Engkaulah wanita hiasan duniawi
Mana mungkin lahirnya bayangan yang lurus elok
Jika datangnya dari kayu yang bengkok
Begitulah peribadi yang dibentuk
Didiklah wanita dengan keimanan
Bukannya harta ataupun pujian
Kelak tidak derita berharap pada yang binasa
Engkaulah wanita istimewa
Sedarilah insan istimewa
Bahawa kelembutan bukan kelemahan
Bukan jua penghinaan dari Tuhan
Bahkan sebagai hiasan kecantikan
The song "Wanita" by Rokia Traoré is a beautiful tribute to women, praising their importance in the world and their unique qualities. In the first verse, Traoré sings that women are called to beautify the world and to complete human connections. Women's absence is felt not only by those who miss them but by Adam himself, who was lonely without Eve. The second verse speaks to the fragility of women's minds and encourages them to strengthen their minds with knowledge and their hearts with strong faith. Traoré reminds women that they are not inferior but rather created from the rib of a man, close to his heart to be protected and loved.
The chorus declares that women are the adornment of the world and that their nature and qualities are uniquely special. The bridge emphasizes the importance of educating women with faith rather than material wealth, highlighting the pitfalls of placing value in temporary things. Traoré concludes with a reminder that gentleness is not a weakness or a sign of contempt from God, but rather an essential characteristic of beauty.
Overall, the song is a celebration of the power and significance of women, who are essential to the fabric of human life. It is a call to strengthen and uplift women, both individually and collectively, and to recognize their contributions to the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Kau digelar sebagai penyeri dunia
You are called the beautifier of the world
Hadirmu melengkap hubungan manusia
Your presence completes the relationship of humanity
Bukan sahaja dirindui yang biasa
Not just the ordinary are missed
Malah Adam turut sunyi tanpa Hawa
Even Adam was lonely without Eve
Akalmu senipis bilahan rambut
Your mind is as thin as a strand of hair
Tebalkanlah ia dengan limpahan ilmu
Thicken it with an abundance of knowledge
Jua hatimu bak kaca yang rapuh
Likewise, your heart is fragile like glass
Kuatkanlah ia dengan iman yang teguh
Strengthen it with unwavering faith
Tercipta engkau dari rusuk lelaki
You were created from the rib of man
Bukan dari kaki untuk dialasi
Not from the feet to be trampled on
Bukan dari kepala untuk dijunjung
Not from the head to be superior
Tapi dekat dibahu untuk dilindung
But from the side to be protected
Dekat jua di hati untuk dikasihi
Also near the heart to be loved
Engkaulah wanita hiasan duniawi
You are the adornment of the world, woman
Mana mungkin lahirnya bayangan yang lurus elok
How could a beautiful straight shadow be born
Jika datangnya dari kayu yang bengkok
If it comes from a crooked wood
Begitulah peribadi yang dibentuk
That is how personality is formed
Didiklah wanita dengan keimanan
Educate women in faith
Bukannya harta ataupun pujian
Not with wealth or praise
Kelak tidak derita berharap pada yang binasa
Later on, there will be no suffering hoping for perishable things
Engkaulah wanita istimewa
You are a special woman
Sedarilah insan istimewa
Realize that humans are special beings
Bahawa kelembutan bukan kelemahan
That gentleness is not weakness
Bukan jua penghinaan dari Tuhan
Nor is it a humiliation from God
Bahkan sebagai hiasan kecantikan
Even as an adornment of beauty
Contributed by Madison Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@michaelotieno100
Soothing music. Thank you Rokia, you are great!
@MwangoF
Wow!! what a gem. Makes me want to meet Wanita. Hmmm! ei! Ah! what or who is Wanita??
@aichethiam1925
Nostalgique
@coolari9755
Ambao kutoka Poland
@MonikaMazgola
Co to znaczy?
@sahranka9336
@Monika Mazgoła
Ona zapytała.(wsumie to ja tylko z innego konta starego) "Kto z polski" W języku suahili/kiswahili, którym.mówi prawie cała afryka.
@camaramoussa2969
J'aime bien rokia
@definancepascale3848
que c est joli! dommage que je ne comprenne pas le texte
@valinogoldberg2475
Wanita in Indonesian language literally means woman.