For eight years Oumou Sangaré, one of Africa’s most significant singers, released nothing on record. It wasn’t because she wasn’t working: she continued to sing and built up a business empire in Mali, including a hotel and a range of all-terrain cars. And then, all of a sudden, her comeback was announced last year: Mogoya – and it’s full of power. While she is still battling social injustice, a new Oumou can be heard. Traditional ngoni, calabash instruments and Wassoulou singing can be heard, as well as electric guitar and synthesizers, all set to an Afro-beat groove. In a live setting Oumou Sangaré can be heard again as the voice of African women. Since the start of her career she has demanded the emancipation of women, singing her protest. She herself had been the breadwinner in her family, supporting her mother, brothers and sisters since she was thirteen. Oumou translates this into tormented yet very militant vocals in her music.
