“I’m heading for the future with African heritage,” she told TV5 Monde early in 2019, speaking of her first album Barokan. The result is a bold, critically acclaimed production in which Mandinka traditions and desert blues billow pleasingly beneath a fascinating synthetic breeze.

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With Dankoraba, her newest album released in October 2024, Djely Tapa pursues his artistic vision at the crossroads of Malian and Western cultures, past, present and future. Originally from the Kayes region of western Mali, Djely Tapa shares the wise words and vocal art of the griots, emblematic figures of ancient and contemporary Malian society, whose origins date back to the 13th-century Mandingo Empire. Her repertoire blends Mandingo traditions, desert blues and electronic sounds. She made her solo debut in 2019 with her album Barokan (Prix JUNO 2020 - Canadian World Music Album of the Year) and was named Révélation Radio-Canada in 2019.