2. Billie HolidayLady Sings The Blues
Musically, it’s so beautiful. It’s one of those classical voices from that time. Ladies singing the blues: the title is very powerful. It’s a woman singing her problems. The blues to me is when you cannot cry about your problems, you have to sing them. It’s a kind of survival song. She’s crying inside but she transforms her voice into a kind of hope.
Can you remember the first time you heard that track?
It was the same time I discovered Nina Simone. When I was in Mali, I never had the chance to hear that kind of music. In Mali, we listened to Malian music 200% of the day. We are not very in touch with other types of music, not our generation. Maybe Bob Marley. Otherwise, you grow up with traditional music, so when I came to Paris in 2002, my boyfriend put me in touch with all these classic songs. I always go to those ladies’ voices to reconnect myself.
