My Biography

At the beginning of her new video clip entitled "Niun Niar", she picks up a kora on a shore. Quite a symbol for the one who signed her single by "Fanta Style", her name of artist singer. Fanta Cissokho, granddaughter of the late Soundioulou Cissokho, nicknamed the "king of the kora", follows in the footsteps of her paternal uncles, Djéour, Prince and others Ali Boulo, Ablaye, the many heirs of her grandfather, virtuoso of the Mandingo kora. Music is a family affair for the Cissokho. Renowned as great kora players, this lineage from the green and cultural Casamance, from Ziguinchor to be precise, has perpetuated the Mandingo musical tradition for three generations.

At 31 years old, Fanta, daughter of Chérif Cissokho, one of Soundioulou's sons, did not deviate from the custom. She was six years old when her famous grandfather, renowned as a great kora player throughout the musical world, passed away. But Fanta Cissokho lives with the memory of her grandfather, because she "was told about his story". Today, from this family base, she has her own artistic destiny to write. After her debut in music in 2005, the young woman went through a training at the National School of Arts, to learn the rudiments of the guitar, the piano and the kora. Even if she does not excel yet in the mastery of this traditional instrument, like her ancestor.

Fanta Cissokho left her studies in high school to follow her passion for music. At the beginning she started to rap, like her brothers and the young people of her neighborhood Golf in the suburbs of Dakar, Guédiawaye. She then joined the group "Batù Jiggen", before participating in 2008, in the musical competition of young talents "Case Sanga 2", a reality show launched in Mali.
 
"I was the winner and representative of Senegal in this competition in Bamako, where I participated in an artistic residency of four months ..." she recalls. A great musical experience for the young woman, who had to rub shoulders in the Malian capital, several celebrities of African music as Tiken Jah Fakoly, Amadou & Myriam, Oumou Sangharé, Madou Diabaté ...

"I learned a lot during my stay in Bamako. From the vocal technique, to the choreography with Sékou Keita, the support of Didier Awadi also. As well as that of my godfather for this contest, Baaba Maal who had offered me a guitar for the occasion ..." confides proud Fanta, more than a decade after this musical highlight in his young career as an artist.

Through her participation in Case Sanga 2, the singer also met the Senegalese president at the time, Abdoulaye Wade. "He offered me money and even a scholarship to study music in Bordeaux, France..." she says, even though she did not take advantage of this opportunity because she did not have a visa for the trip.

This June, by launching her first video clip "Niun Niar" (We two, in Wolof language), a musical variety, Fanta announces the premises of a first album in preparation. Her music is soft, introduced by a Peul flute, with a soft voice. The artist sings in Wolof and Mandingo, even if she admits that she does not master all the subtleties of the language of her paternal grandfather.

If she does not want to advance the release date of her album, the young woman will confirm the variety of styles already started in her single. For the smooth running of her career, the heiress of the Cissokho family admits to having benefited from the support and advice of her father, Chérif Cissokho. At 65, this trained architect and kora maker, the fifth child of the great sibling of Soundioulou Cissokho (1921-1994), has the ambitious project of paying tribute to his father through a documentary on the life and work of the "king" of the kora. "My father helps me a lot in the good progress of my career, to sign contracts or to find them" says Fanta Cissokho. To say how much, the family cultural heritage is well kept in this lineage of Mandingo griots...


Omar DIOUF