Alpha Blondy & Solar System at Piknik Reggae: African roots in Chocianów

Alpha Blondy, from Ivory Coast, is one of the world's most popular reggae musicians. With The Solar System, the band of more than a dozen musicians who have accompanied him for years, he presents reggae marked by a distinctive African sound. This incredible artist will appear at this year's Piknik Reggae at the special invitation of LIONSTAGE Management.

Born in 1953, Sedou Kone, Blondy’s real name, has been fascinated by Bob Marley’s music since his early years. He has considered himself a Rastaman from a very young age, as evidenced by six reggae tracks recorded while still a child. The nickname “blondy”, intended to sound like “bandit”, came from the grandmother who raised him for years and thought her grandson had always shown a considerable rebellious streak. Kone used “alpha”, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, to create his alter ego. Thus the West African music scene’s “number-one bandit” was born!

A lack of submissiveness and a strong personality shape Blondy’s subsequent life. Kone’s Rastafarian lifestyle is entirely different from his parents’ vision of him as an English teacher. While studying in the United States, Blondy already fills his free time with numerous musical sessions in New York’s Central Park and Harlem clubs, performing Marley songs. Following several serious incidents involving local authorities and police, his parents, worried by their difficulties raising their son, force him into psychiatric treatment. The young rebel uses his time in the treatment centre to hone his lyric-writing talent. As it later turns out, this is another determined step towards a musical career.

In the early 1970s, Alpha Blondy gains considerable popularity in West African countries, leading to the official release of “Brigidier Sabari” and, in 1983, his debut, “Jah Glory”. “Brigadier Sabari” becomes his response to police brutality encountered on the streets of Abidjan, his country’s capital. Beaten almost to death by officers there, Blondy most likely becomes the first artist in West African history to find the courage to speak publicly about police brutality.

Social engagement combined with an innate sense of humour places Alpha Blondy among the leading challengers of African realities. Describing himself as an “African Rasta”, he creates songs promoting morality, love, peace and social involvement. He consistently dedicates many compositions to poor and marginalised people. His mid-1980s freedom anthem “Apartheid is nazism” loudly condemns apartheid’s evil. He coined the humorous term “democratatorship”, mocking the apparently civic manner in which power is exercised in African countries.

From the start of his career, Blondy has also sought to broaden the audience engaging consciously with his work. To date, he has written nearly 200 songs, sung not only in his native Dioula but also in English, French, Arabic and Hebrew. The multi-ethnic composition of The Solar System, with whom he has toured worldwide for years, seems to reflect the respect for different faiths he learnt at home: his mother was Muslim and his father Christian. Alongside musicians from his homeland, the band includes a Jamaican, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Togolese musician.

Blondy currently has 18 albums and remains highly active in international reggae. His latest, “Jah Victory”, summarises 25 years on stage. Made with Tyrone Downie and famous rhythm section Sly & Robbie, it mixes modernity and tradition. Instruments such as darbuka accompany French rappers’ lyrics, as the tireless “Number-One Bandit” invited them to sessions for last year’s record.

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