Fatoumata Diawara – Massa

The music of Fatoumata Diawara is unmistakably rooted in West Africa, where she was born and grew up. At the same time, it opens itself to western pop much more clearly than, for instance, that of her mentor Oumou Sangaré.

Diawara has long worked with artists such as Damon Albarn, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the British house duo Disclosure. The France-based musician has long since made herself at home on the world’s stages with her cathartic performances. On Massa, she continues working with Matthieu Chedid on the marriage of global pop and Wassoulou vibes. Sometimes in a tender insistence on confidence, as on »Fala«; sometimes with cheerful, if not entirely contemporary, funk, as on the opener »Djanne«, which deals with what it means to leave home while taking the familiar with you. Massa is at the same time carried by this idea, which Fatoumata Diawara has made the basic premise of her art. Announced as her most personal album, this perhaps works particularly well, for good reasons, in the fragile moments, while pieces such as »Djanne« will probably only really give pleasure on stage.