Maciré Sylla

Sorry once again that it's taken me months to update this blog but as time goes on, I seem to have more and more to do and less time, in which to do it!

Maciré Sylla was born and currently resides in Conakry (the capital of Guinea). She nevertheless mainly grew up in the countryside, and it was there that her grandmother inspired her career in music by teaching her traditional songs as well as teaching her about her heritage and Guinean culture.

As Maciré has spent a lot of time in both the countryside and the city, she aims to combine the aspects of both parts of the country in her music. Her music is usually written in the Soussou language and it has been influenced by Afropop, funk and Mandingo music.

The idea for this post was inspired by a representative from Pure Song, who recommended Maciré Sylla's music to me.

In this song, Macire speaks to a semi-fictional confidante called Fredi (based on a taxi-driver, former actor, she met in her childhood in the village of Tayiré) and tells him about mean rumours spread by false friends.

The first few sentences of this song come from a old story from her village, when husbands would go on a long journey to hunt a rare, mystical feline called Tiama and bring back the feline's tail as a trophy for their wives. Sylla uses this story as a way of singing about how it is hard to travel in Guinea, particularly as the railways have been dismantled over time by thieves stealing the metal.