Salif Keita: The Musician's struggles

Salif Keita struggled to balance many tensions throughout his musical journey, including state

sponsorship of music, caste identity, and appearance. In this blog post we are going to try
to give an overview of these obstacles, of the ways he overcame them, and on the compromises
he made.

Nobility and Music

Salif Keita was born in 1949 in Badugu Djoliba, a small village near the Niger river.
Despite its size, the village was open to a lot of modernizing influences: there was a school,
a health center, a weekly open air market with merchant from the capital, and in 1960 it was
selected as a model city and rebuilt with modern style. Salif was the son of of one of the most
prominent members of the Keita family in his village and therefore was considered part of
the noble cast despite his family not being particularly wealthy.  His family was a historically
family of hunters and warriors which meant that some of his first musical influences were
traditional hunters songs.

A traditional hunter's cerimony

However, Salif’s membership to the Keita family was an extreme obstacle for him in his
attempt to be recognised as a musician and a singer. As a noble family the Keita family
isn’t traditionally a family of musician since the status of musician is usually associated with a
condition of servitude. The status of nobility has as one of its core the principle the idea
of independence and therefore the status of musician is seen as a failure for a
member of the Keita family.

These 2 videos help undestand the

relation to the Keita family and music

The idea that music puts the musitian in a condition of servitude is best understood in the context of
fasa, a genre that consists in songs of praise that celebrate a family’s heroic heritage.
These songs traditionally highlighted important moral values and people
who exemplified those values. However, these songs can also “be used as an instrument
to give legitimacy to wealthy and self-seeking politicians” (Outcasts, p. 79).
Seeking financial and moral support, artists often used the fasa for personal gain. The use of the
fasa for self-serving purposes by artists has stripped the legitimacy of griots. These songs are
especially dishonest when singers claim to celebrate a family’s legacy without truly
knowing the family background. In this way, praise singing can “breed artistic dishonesty”
(Outcasts, p. 80). Salif engagement in music and in the practice of praise singing
was seen as particularly unacceptable especially because nobles were not supposed to
sing praise; nobles were supposed to be the subjects of these songs only.

State Sponsorship and Music

During the period after Mali’s independence in 1960, the state exercised a large degree of
control over Malian music. The state sponsored musical groups, individual artists, and
venues. There was sa national orchestra, a national radio, and even
state-sponsored discotheques.  Through this system, the government exerted a large degree of
control over music.

Signing of Mali's independence
in 1960

Salif Keita had the government’s support, which allowed him to rise in prominence. His
music was played on the radio and as he became more popular, military and state
officials and merchants began to give him gifts. But being sponsored by the
government meant that he was limited in the kind of music he could produce;
the government tended to encourage traditional songs and songs that extolled the
new nation. Salif could not express himself fully while he had this relationship with
the state. One artist, Sorry Bamba, expressed that the Malian artist “is like a straw
that the people in power blow around as they wish” (Outcast to Ambassador, p. 63).

On the other hand, government support was important to Salif’s career. Salif lacked acceptance
and legitimacy for many reasons; people rejected him on the basis of his physical
appearance and his social caste. So while other artists leaned on the state
for economic support, Salif also depended on the government to legitimize his role as an artist.

Salif continued to find his artistic identity as he moved around the world. In 1978,
Salif and his colleague, Kanté Manfila, moved to the Côte d’Ivoire. In this urban setting,
Salif had to win over people without state support. As part of the group
Les Ambassaeurs Internationaux, Salif sang praise songs, or fasas, and blended
modern and traditional styles.

Salif performing with Les Ambassaeurs Internationaux

Aesthetics and Music

Salif’s musical journey is also embodied in his aesthetic dress decisions. In 1984,
Salif left Africa for France, where he was more free to express himself. He adopted
the clothing of the donso sero, or the hunter-bard. This choice of clothing at first seems
perplexing; the hunter-bard’s clothing is known for being intentionally unattractive. Many
other African artists selected the brightest and most colorful clothing from their countries
to attract an international audience. Salif Keita opted for the hunter-bard’s dark red clothing,
complete with horns, hair, mirrors, and amulets.

Examples of  clothing

This clothing seemed like a strange decision, but in fact it represented Salif truly owning his
identity and using it to his advantage. First, by dressing as a hunter-bard, Salif distanced
himself from his caste, and from the idea that legitimacy can come only from hereditary caste.
Second, Salif’s dress rejected Mande’s bias towards external appearance and physical beauty.
In Mande culture, the hunter-bard is often considered to be the voice of the invisible and
the “announcer of hidden things.” For hunter-bard, physical “imperfections” are actually a
positive attribute, as they can signify special protection. In this way, Salif used dress to
transform his physical appearance from a stigma to something that held positive meaning.