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‘The killers I met in jail didn’t scare me’: singer Rokia Traoré on why prison was ‘a privilege’
After serving time in Paris, Rome and Brussels, the Malian star is ready to perform again – and planning a book and a stage show about her fellow inmates and her own prison experiences
Born and based in Mali, she is one of the most inventive and adventurous female artists in Africa; a singer who can switch from delicate acoustic styles to rock, powered by her bluesy electric guitar work. The approach sounds similar to that of Damou, her 2012 words-and-music project in which she demonstrated her compelling storytelling in a reworking of the Epic of Soundiata, a poem from Mali’s ancient oral tradition. Titled À Huis Clos, the show will open in France, where Traoré has been discussing staging and choreography with Moïse Touré, director of the company Les Inachevés.
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