Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
Aya Nakamura, here in May 2024, in New York.
MUSIC – In life, some people inherit freckles, the color of their eyes or sometimes their strong character from their parents. Others, a gift for singing. Yes, it happens. And this is the case of Aya Nakamura, as recalled by a book – the first – dedicated to the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world, which has just been published by JC Lattès, this Wednesday January 22.
« The singing gene is written in the DNA » of the 29-year-old Franco-Malian star, insists Ismaël Mereghetti at the letter G of his alphabet book, entitled Aya Nakamura, critical dictionary. « And it's not a metaphor. She inherited it literally, through blood ties,” continues the connoisseur, before specifying: “ His mother indeed belongs to the griot caste. »
In West Africa, the griot (or griotte) is a storyteller, a wordsmith specialized in transmitting through music the history and values of the people of his region. Appearing in a context where writing did not yet exist, this caste of “bards” retraces the past by mixing mythological epics and authentic stories.
Beyond this oral tradition, they can also play “ a role of genealogists, also lead rites of passage, and serve as advisors or even mediators in the event of conflict », Specifies Ismaël Mereghetti, for whom this status is transmitted from generation to generation. “ We are born griots, we do not become one “, he maintains.
« She had a good flow »
Throughout her youth, the specialist continues, Aya saw her mother “ work at weddings and birthdays, recount the past events of this or that family, praise the people being celebrated ». « She had a good flow », remembers the main interested party on the set of C to youlast November.
-It inspired her a lot. As a child, she observed his use of words and his ability to stage episodes from daily life, a theme that would be dear to him later. Thanks to this, she would have developed a dream: that of becoming a singer, and perfected certain tools to achieve this, including a good auditory memory.
If things started in front of music videos on TV with a hairbrush in her hand as a microphone, Aya Nakamura went in less than a decade from a complete unknown to one of the most essential performers in musical culture French. And this, without ever having set foot in a singing lesson. Thank you blood.
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