Songlines Music Awards: The Malian Singer Oumou Sangaré won the 2023 Best Artist Award.

The British magazine Songlines announces that the Malian singer Oumou Sangare has won the Songlines 2023 Best Artist Award for her album “Timbuktu”.

Reacting to the news of her coronation, the diva posted on her Facebook page the following message to her fans around the world: “I am very happy and honored to announce that I have won the Best Artist award at the Songlines Music Awards for my album ‘Timbuktu’! I would like to thank my record label, World Circuit, for their continued support, as well as ‘Songlines Magazine’ and everyone who contributed to the success of this album. This award is a real honor for me, and I really appreciate your support. Thank you so much to all my fans.”

“After a series of brilliant albums in a predominantly traditional vein”, wrote the magazine, “she grew increasingly restless to mix her Wassoulou dance rhythms with other styles, and her ability to do so without compromising her authenticity was evident when she duetted with Alicia Keys and when Beyoncé sampled her song ‘Diaraby Néné’ for the soundtrack of The Lion King: The Gift.

It led to 2017’s Mogoya, a more experimental record than anything she had done before, with traditional instruments such as the ngoni and calabash joined by synths and electronica.

Emboldened by its success she recorded the even more audacious Timbuktu, written when she found herself stranded by lockdown in the USA and unable to return home to Mali. Produced by the French duo of Pascal Danaë and Nicolas Quéré, it was widely hailed as the boldest and most ambitious set of her iconic career. It found her thrillingly fusing African tradition with blues, folk, and rock idioms while her voice seems to grow ever richer with the passing of time.”