Jacknife Lee announces collaborative album with Malian artist Rokia Koné and shares new single

Renowned Irish producer Jacknife Lee has announced a collaborative album, BAMANAN, with Rokia Koné, one of Mali’s most popular female singers. Ahead of the project's release on February 18, they've shared the single ‘N’yanyan’, as well as an accompanying music video.

Rokia Koné, who is already a major star in her home country, was first introduced to international audiences as part of the acclaimed feminist supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique in 2017, when she featured alongside some of West Africa’s biggest female artists on the critically-acclaimed album République Amazone.

Jacknife Lee is the acclaimed producer of the legendary likes of U2, R.E.M and The Killers, and has earned Grammy recognition for his work on Taylor Swift’s multi-million selling Red.

The vocals for ‘N’yanyan’ were recorded in Bamako on August 18, 2020, the night of a coup d’état that marked another period of instability for Mali. Inspired by the turbulent events happening around her, Rokia delivered a profound vocal performance in a single take, just before the power was shut down and a curfew imposed on the city.

‘N’yanyan is based on a very old song created by our ancestors, acknowledging our limits and our mortality," comments Rokia Koné. "I sing it for all human beings, to tell them that we are in the middle ground and all this will end one day. This difficulty is only a moment in time, and all things will pass.”

Pre-order the album here.

The video for ‘N’yanyan’ was directed by award-winning Senegalese filmmaker Joseph Gaï Ramaka at his home on Gorée Island, Senegal.

Take a look at the video for 'N'yanyan' below: