6. Coumba Sidibé Wary
I listened to Coumba every day with my mother – whether you wanted to or not, you would hear Coumba because my mother would listen to her every morning. And it was really about nostalgia for the Wassoulou. She’s a lot older than me but when I saw her on stage, and she was really my idol in terms of the way she moved on stage and her use of the Wassoulou language. Because although I’m Wassoulou I was born and grew up in Bamako, I’m a girl from the capital. It was Coumba who really gave me the love of my culture. I already had the music and the culture in my blood but it was Coumba who really inspired me. On Wari she gives advice to young people about money – ‘Wary’ means money. She explained to young people that you shouldn’t be too attached to money before you understand what it means to work for it.
