When she set foot for the first time, at the age of 19, after having paid for the ticket herself, the soil of her parents’ native land, Mali, Hatouma Sylla recognized it all. The smells. Colors. The sounds. The vibrations. Like an already eerily familiar country.
“We never started as a family. For my mother, a cleaner and my father, a worker, taking eight children was a heavy burden. Each time they chose one of us”says the 26-year-old young woman.
In Villejuif, where she grew up and still lives, the “village” remains omnipresent. “At home we watched African TV channels. Dad and mom forced us to speak in Soninke…, he says in his slight Parisian accent. We watched wedding videos, to learn the dance moves. We frequented tribes of cousins. Finally, when I started to be interested in singing, I read up on it, watched videos, knew the landscapes by heart… At this point, I think, as a child, I sincerely thought I had already gone to Mali.”
Today he recharges his batteries, every year, in Bamako, in the Fombabougou district, on the border with Titibougou, names he pronounces with palpable greed.
In his playlists? He only plays Mandinka music, and especially that of his idols, the Malian singers Dialou Damba, Babani Koné, Tita Koné, Ami Koïta … “I feel incredible emotions in front of their techniques, their unique vibratosshe says. For me, Malian sounds represent the very origin of music…”
Initially, this crazy love was far from won… “My father only listened to morello cherries, traditional songsremember. And I, a teenage r’n’b fan, who only swore by Rihanna, hated it! Badass music! One fine day, however, I found my roots. Finally today I’m the blerdarde, haha!”
become yourself
His passion for singing begins in early childhood. She dressed in her mother’s clothes, armed with deodorant or a hairbrush as a microphone, she gives voice and heart. “I was convinced I sang very well, but everyone at home begged me to shut up”she laughs.
Rebelote at the elementary fair, where he gapes his throat: “Again, I felt like I had a gift, but nobody touched me a word.” We will have to wait for university and the healthy lessons of a music teacher for everything to change.
When the musical groups are formed, everyone fights to be by her side, she, the shy student, not very sure of herself. “Hatouma, you sing really well!”they exclaim. Finally recognition! After having ensured, with the song, all the festivals of the boarding school, the older sister, a member of the staff of Miss Mali France, asks him, at 17 years old, to sing for the ceremony.
“She left the rehearsal in tears, overwhelmed with emotion” remember Hatouma, who realizes the power of his powerful voice. Which never fails to captivate the audience about him…”Most of those who come to see me cannot believe that I am French! When I sing I teleport myself to another world, I become someone else, indeed completely myself”she says.
Gradually, this griot fan and singer Mady Diabate case he professionalizes as a musician in parallel with his studies. He sings at weddings and performs with the greatest, such as Lansiné Kouyaté or Ballake Sissoko. Collaborations he didn’t even dare to dream…”On Spotify I practiced singing to Ballaké’s music! And finally, I performed with him on stage!”he marvels again.
The friendship of a hippopotamus
On her journey, the young woman also finds a mentor, an accomplice, in the person of the virtuoso of the kora, Chérif Soumano. “After following him on social media, I finally met him at Nuit du Mali, where I was performing in 2019. Since then he has been like an uncle, who managed to reassure my parents, who were afraid that I would take the path of music. He advises me, he helps me write my songs…”explains.
And, little by little, his style evolves, balancing his two cultures, Western and African. “At first I sang in a traditional way, I thought a lot, I was afraid to move away from the modelsshe says. Today I feel freer, more spontaneous, more personal…”
And it is the full extent of this talent that Hatouma will reveal during the famous Mandingo Christmas of Africolor on the evening of December 24, in the company of Yacouba Koné on guitar, Elisée Sangare on bass, Bina Samaké on drums, Balakala Diabaté on balafon and Vincent Lassalle on percussion, kamalé n’goni and orchestra direction…
On the menu? Essentially traditional songs, reviewed by Hatouma, including Mali Sadiohis favorite title. “In the village of Bafoulabé, a hippopotamus and a woman had become the best friends in the world, she describes. The locals wanted to kill the beast, but she fiercely defended it. This song about friendship, I can sing it for hours without stopping. I get chills!”
A beautiful fairy tale that will surely arouse intense emotions even in the audience of this last Africolor evening: a magical Mandingo Christmas!
Hatouma Sylla in concert on December 24 in Montreuil as part ofAfrican
Facebook page ofHatouma Silla
