User talk:Alikara23

Alpha Blondy (born Seydou Koné on January 1, 1953 in Dimbokoro, Côte d'Ivoire) is a reggae singer. He is a major star in West Africa. He has played with The Wailers. He studied English at Hunter College in New York, and later in the Columbia University American Language Program.

Alpha Blondy sings mainly in Dioula, French and English, but also sometimes in Arabic or Hebrew. His lyrics denote strong political attitude and humor. He invented the word "democrature" (it translates as "democratorship") to qualify some African governments.

His first success was Brigadier Sabary. Some representative songs are:
 * Apartheid is Nazism
 * Brigadier Sabary - satirical lyrics about police brutality.
 * Guerre Civile - about civil war
 * Jerusalem - about Israel contains some lyrics in Hebrew
 * Journalistes en danger - about the assassination of Norbert Zongo
 * Politiqui - about civilian / military government alternance
 * Yitzhak Rabin

Blondy features on a track on the 2005 Magic System album Petit Pompier.

Alpha blondy s history
First song of a big family of nine children, Seydou Kone was born in Dimbokro in 1953. Raised by his grandmother, the young boy grew up in a very good environment and having the same name of his grandfather died, he was treated as the little husband of his grandmother who was always by his side. He has been raised in an elder environment and later, this will have a big impact on his career. During his childhood, he understood quickly the importance of truth and the need to always tell the truth and the need to always tell the truth no matter what happened. In years 1962, Alpha Blondy went to his father place, Odienne where he spent ten years. He attends the public high school of the city where he assumed the function of president in the local section of the movement of student of Ivory Coast. Few times later, the young boy forms a group with his school friends and played in part time and during the week end for the pleasure of young girls of the Sainte Elisabeth high school. However, his passion affected his schooling and Alpha Blondy was fire of the school due to his bad attendance in class. As he wants to learn English he succeeds to convince his mother to study English abroad, precisely in the neighbor country Liberia. In 1973 the young boy is in Monrovia, the economic city of Liberia. He spent thirteen months there and motivated by his ambition and the desire to go furthermore, he went back to his home country with the goal to go to the United Sates of America to perform his English. In 1973 the young Blondy fulfilled his dream by going to New York and applied by the first times for a language program in a business school, “la Geneva school of business” where he spent three month. Later on he attends “the Hunter College” in order to improve quickly his skills in English. Alpha passed his exam with success and got the privilege to apply in the American language program of Columbia University. He attended the program during two years and is obliged to work very hard in part times and sometimes during the night to survive. This is not really evident and despite his willing ambition to succeed, the overwork got him sick. It’s in this situation that Alpha dropped the school following the advice of the doctor to take a moment of rest and went to one of his compatriot and friends invitation in “Waco, Texas”. In Waco, and thanks to his friend named Oullaii Joachim, he got a job in a field, a chicken industries but the young boy became quickly nostalgic of his life in New York. Indeed, it’s in New York that the young boy acquired his first Rasta approach and is also influenced by the concert of Burning spear in 1976 in central park. This time has been the main period of his musical orientation. So after his stage as farmer, he soon had a job in the biggest industry of Christian music but never stopped writing his songs. The important, Jamaican producer Clive Hunt heard him sing some song of Bob Marley and recorded six songs which were never released. A quarrel with the Ivorian ambassador results in his arestation and his come back to Ivory Coast. There, a fight with a policeman led to a jail but he is finally released and found one of his old friends of childhood who became a famous television producer, Fulgence Kassi. This was the beginning of his real career as singer.

His musical inspiration
When Alpha Blondy started his single career, at the beginning of years 80 he came under the nickname of Alpha Blondy which means Alpha the “holing”. He was just being back of the short absence in the music scene, and then he has been detected by the famous television producer, Fulgence Kassi. Impressed by the incredible talent of the young boy, Fulgence Kassi, invited Alpha for the first television show of his carreer and the beginning of a long and interesting story. After different television show, Blondy finally fulfilled his dream by composing his first album solo in 1983 untitled “Jah Glory”. This album will have an enorm success and will become later a symbol of resistance because of the song “brigadier sabari” where Alpha criticized the harassment of the police and took his life experience as example. Indeed, few times before this song, Alpha was victim of police violence and decided to denounce this inappropriate behavior of security forces. Few times after his revelation on the national musical scene, Alpha Blondy became a big star in Abidjan. Then he totally change the old conception of reggae which was knew as a typical Jamaican sound, Alpha Blondy imposed his own style of reggae and became a idole for his fan who were in majority teenager, and used to define him as the bob Marley of west Africa, because of the similarities in the message they conducted and rebellious stance, excitable personality and his apparently endless supply of nervous energy. Alpha Blondy doesn’t stop his progress, and as proof, in order to have more people able to understand his message, he choose to sing in many language, English, French, Baoule and his own native language Dioula, soon the talent of Alpha Blondy is appreciated by the Europeans countries and his four track untitled “Rasta pou” know an important success in Europe. These good results push him to go to Paris in 1984 with the goal to do music. He sign his second Album under the label of Path Marconi EMI and recorded it, entitle “cocodyrock”, considered as the Bob Marley of west Africa, Alpha Blondy will get the big opportunity to record the fourth titled track of his new Album; with Marley’s former group the Wailers. Back to his countries, Alpha went directly in studios to start his new album entitled “Apartheid is Nazism. This Album of Alpha Blondy in years 85 was more engaged than usual. It is implied the demand of the end of Apartheid and freedom for all people. 1986 Blondy recorded “Jerusalem” in the legendary tuff gong studios in Jamaica with the Wailers. Blondy tried to promote the unity between religion as Islam, Judaism and Christianity. He took his arguments and inspiration into his own diverse knowledge of Bible, Koran and Torah. The same year, Blondy during a concert in Morocco, choose to sing in Hebrew. 1887 this year Blondy associate new musical instrument to his old musical gender the reggae which are violin and cello. His new album revolution included some track as “fanta diallo” and the featuring with the diva of Ivorian music Aicha Kone. Years 1987to 1989 Blondy gave many series of concert and at the end of 1989, the singer recorded “SOS guere tribal”, an album with eight tracks in Abidjan. However this one was not a real success. This hasn’t been enough to stop Blondy because at the beginning of the year 91 he made several tours across Europe where he recorded his famous album entitled “Massada” with the help of some legend of music like Bocana Maiga and Denis Bovel. The album with the single “Rendez vous” huge success and later Blondy in recognition received his first gold disk and made his consecration in concert and made his consecration in concert to the Zenith place from Paris. Unfortunately, at the beginning of years 93, due to an excessive series of concert and tours across the world, blondy made a depression and failed to the succeed and was intern in emergency into a mental institution. But as soon as he recovered a little bit his health, he recovered the album “God” where he appears more mystical and faithful. This album include some track as “Abortion is a crime” and “Heal me” where he express his own feeling.

Unfortunately, Blondy mental health continued and became more and more alarming, and visited one more time a psychiatric center. But the 10th December 1994, Blondy was back with the festival organized for the commemoration of president Houphouet death. Later on Blondy exploded in concert to the Zenith place of Paris and then announced his comeback. In 1996, Blondy made the compilation of his musical career and went back in studio to record the album “Grand Bassam Zioin”. This album sings in almost six languages Malinke, Arabic, French, English, Ashanti and Wolof. Year 1998, after many single track and album and short period of rest in Paris, Blondy came back to his homeland with a new album entitle “the prophet”. Considering his label of production too much focused on the international market, he decided to create his own label of production. Since the creation, Alpha recorded several Album and singles as “yitza Rabin” in memory of the old Israelis prime minister which has been assassinated in 1998, the single “journalist en danger” the album “elohim: in 2000 and “merci” in 2002 and other featuring with Ophelie winter and Saian Supa Crew. His last album released in 2005 is entitled “Akwaba”

his faith
Since the beginning of his career until today, Alpha Blondy kept very strongly his faith in God and his own religion concept, meaning the union of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This side of Alpha Blondy can be perceived into some of his sound track like “Jerusalem” where he sang for unity between all religion in 1986, and the album entitle “God”, after getting out a depression, the reggae star begged God for his help and succeed to overcome his trouble. God had always got an important effect on his fulfillment. Moreover, Alpha got multiple experiences and difficulties. Despite the fact that Alpha was educated in a Muslim Family, he learnt a lot on the Christian Religion, thanks to his Rasta philosophy and his job in the biggest Christian music industry

Alpha Blondy’s actions and engagement
Alpha Blondy had always been defined as a revendicator and a critic. He affirmed himself as the defender of free speech and fought against different forms of injustice as well as racism, authority, harassment, politic, manipulation and others social matters. One of his first sound track entitle “brigadier Sabari” where he denounced the politic harassment became the symbol of the population oppressed by the police repression. Alpha Blondy sang against politic manipulation and denounced the bad management of the government fund for some private goal in the album “les voleur de la republique”(republic robber) in year 2000. Despite the risk, he had the courage to denounce also the unjust murder of the burkinabees journalist Norbert Zongo in some mysterious conditions. But it is in 1998 that Alpha recorded the most engaged album entitle “Yitza Rabin” in which he appeared as very hard in critics. He wrote a song asking for the return of the French arguing that the Ivorian did not need to their services anymore .and the sound track “guerre civil “where he predicted the threatening of a civil war if the politicians did not stop their politic manipulation.

His action and contribution
Talking about Alpha Blondy, people think usually of music and it is not totally false because since the beginning of his career in 1980, he wrote at least 17 albums and 194 titles. This musical consecration is in part due to the symbol that he represents for his fan. Jah Blondy as his friend use to call him an Un goodwill ambassador because of his several actions in favor of peace and justice. We can cite his single with Ophelie Winter against the antipersonnel mines entitled “who are you”. The single had also participated at many humanitarian and charity concert, we can list his participation to the concert for the eradication of malaria in Africa organized in Senegal with the participation of many others celebrity in March 2006. Beside this, we cannot count the number of action in favor of the Ivorian young people and his usual mega free concert at Bassam beach called “festa”. Alpha is no longer an Ivorian star but a world star because of his fight for peace and unity all around the world.

Conclusion
Alpha Blondy is one of the most famous African singers. He built his reputation on several successful album and his engagement and ability to denunciate the injustice all around the word. Despite some difficulties moment due to overwork which, lead him to a depression, Alpha Blondy’s determination and talent always permitted him to overcome the difficulties. Today Alpha Blondy represents a model for the future generation, reason why he merits more attention.

Discography

 * 1982: Jah Glory
 * 1984: Cocody Rock!!!
 * 1985: Apartheid Is Nazism
 * 1986: Jerusalem (featuring The Wailers)
 * 1987: Revolution
 * 1989: The Prophets
 * 1992: Masada
 * 1993: SOS Guerres Tribales
 * 1993: Live Au Zénith (Paris)
 * 1994: Dieu
 * 1996: Grand Bassam Zion Rock
 * 1997: Best Of
 * 1998: Yitzhak Rabin
 * 1999: Elohim
 * 2001: Blondy Paris Bercy
 * 2002: Merci