Aya Nakamura has so far preferred not to comment directly on the avalanche of derogatory and racist remarks that her participation in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games had triggered in advance, particularly on social networks. On Sunday, in a live exchange on TikTokthe Franco-Malian singer decided to “tell the truth” about her remarkable performance with the Republican Guard orchestra and the criticism against her.
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Dressed like her six dancers in a gold stage outfit, on the Pont des Arts, the one who is one of the most listened to French-speaking artists in the world on Spotify sang a medley of two of her hits on July 26 in the pouring rain, Djadjaet PookieShe had also proposed a reinterpretation of For me, formidable by Charles Aznavour.
Not aware of the magnitude of the event
During the interview, the singer ofDjadja first admitted: “I never talked about this on social media, but I didn’t expect it at all.” Naively, she admits that she hadn’t realized the importance of this ceremony. “I was chokbar (shocked), because when I was asked to do the event, I didn’t even know what it represented… It was a bit biased in my head. I didn’t know at all the weight that the event had… I didn’t imagine it was so much.”
“I don’t want to say anything stupid,” says the singer, perhaps scalded by criticism of her style, “but when I was asked, I said yes, but I didn’t say to myself wow, I’m going to have the whole world.” It was about putting on a show and then, “tactac, I’m going home,” sums up the woman for whom it was therefore a concert almost like any other.
However, the rapper realizes that it is about much more with the reactions, which are not long in coming: “I asked myself a lot of questions, because I saw a lot of artists who asked for space so that it could be them, [et disaient] Why her? “As for the insults and other kindnesses spread on social networks, Aya Nakamura admits that “fortunately” she was not aware of everything that was said or written.
His meeting with Emmanuel Macron
When asked about stress, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter and mother of two children replied that she is used to “internalizing.” “I work a lot on myself too. When I’m stressed, I manage to channel it,” explains the artist who admits to a stress “that lasted three minutes.” And with the Republican Guard, it was more the pleasure of the collaboration than the pressure that won out. “We had a blast with the Republican Guard. We really had fun during rehearsals,” she says. Here again, the artist admitted that she didn’t understand what it meant to be accompanied by the Republican Guard.
As for the result of her performance, Aya Nakamura admits with a smile, and very gently: “I am proud of myself, I am happy.” But “it has been done, so now, calm down. It’s good, it’s one more show that has been done,” she adds with humility.
If we were still wondering whether or not the President of the Republic had played a role in the choice of artists and their performance, Aya Nakamura outlined an answer by confirming that she went to the Élysée to “see Macron”. She notably revealed that they discussed their “tastes”, “as one does with one’s friends”: “Emmanuel Macron did not impose Édith Piaf on me. That’s false. We talked about it, he asked me who I liked and if I liked Édith Piaf, I answered that “yes, she’s a great artist”. That’s all.” The singer added that the choice of the show had already been made “more or less” and “that Édith Piaf was not at all a question of Édith Piaf”.
Racism
The French-speaking singer, born in Bamako, Mali in 1995, also spoke in the interview about the racist attacks that have been numerous against her since she became a public figure. “In all honesty, I am a re-noi […]I know that there is a lot of discrimination against us, but in my entire life, I have never had any comments about my appearance. Never…”, assures the musician, descended through her mother from a line of griots, and who grew up in Aulnay-sous-Bois.
As a price to pay for her fame, Aya Dianoko, known as Nakamura, believes that she “took it for everyone” and deplores the “caricature of the black woman that some have seen” in her. The Lancôme muse and female artist of the year at the 2024 Victoires de la Musique has been managing her career alone since she fired her manager and has no intention of letting anyone walk all over her.
