Born on May 10: Aya Nakamura, the singer who won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics

Aya Daniko (her real name) was born in 1995 in Bamako (Mali) and, like many artists of her generation, started by sending "tracks" on social media networks. Like so many messages in a bottle...

The eldest of a family of 5 children, she came to France as a baby and was raised in a family of griots (bards of West Africa). While her father worked behind the counter in a bar at Roissy Airport (Paris), her mother continued the family tradition. As a singer and storyteller, she possessed a series of stories that fascinated the young girl. Initially tempted by fashion, she ultimately decided to try her luck in music. Today, from Vivienne Westwood to Schiaparelli and Balmain, all the big names court her. By November 2021, "Vogue France" had already chosen her to feature on the magazine cover.

The days when the teenager published her first song "Karma" on Facebook in 2014 are long gone! Today, with four albums already to her name, she has established herself as the queen of urban music in France. Filled with alliterations and even neologisms, her very personal lyrics (which some describe as Orwellian) play a key role in a musical universe that draws as much from afrobeat as from a distinctly French RnB. Not to mention a few sprinkles of zouk and reggaeton scattered here and there.

To the dismay of some narrow minds, she was chosen in July 2024 to open the Olympic Games on the Pont des Arts in Paris. Accompanied by the Republican Guard, she performed (lip-synced) two of her hits, including the famous "Djaja" as well as "For Me Formidable" by Charles Aznavour. Some of her most virulent detractors - often far-right - who lashed out on social media networks among others will soon be judged in the French capital for "incitement to racial hatred".

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Jean-Paul Gaultier)

Photo: Aya Nakamura (right) with Jean-Paul Gaultier after his haute couture show in Paris (France) on 29 January 2025