Alpha Blondy at Pol’and’Rock Festival: African reggae from Côte d’Ivoire

At the 24th Pol’And’Rock Festival, one of the world's most popular reggae artists, Alpha Blondy, will appear on the Main Stage! The Ivory Coast singer is a leading ambassador of the genre and undoubtedly the most important figure in African reggae history!

Seydou Koné was born on 1 January 1953 in Dimbokoro and was interested in music from an early age. The nickname “blondy”, a distorted pronunciation of “bandit”, was given to him by the grandmother who raised him and considered him a wild, unruly child. Later, Koné added “alpha”, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, to the nickname. And so Alpha Blondy was born: the number-one bandit of the African music scene.

In 1974, Koné left for New York and began pursuing music seriously. He had no intention of fulfilling his parents’ dream of becoming a respected English teacher. He played in Central Park and shabby Harlem clubs, attended concerts by reggae legends and moved among New York’s Rastafarians. Personal upheavals forced him to return home, where he became entangled in even greater difficulties, ending in his arrest by the police and a severe beating. His friend Fulgence Kassi helped him out of trouble and enabled him to begin appearing in talent shows. In 1982, he recorded his debut album, “Jah Glory!”, which brought him more than immense fame. Through “Brigadier Sabari”, he became a symbol of resistance to oppressive authority.

He became West Africa’s first artist to speak publicly about police brutality after officers beat him almost to death. From then on, he was called Africa’s Bob Marley. His fame quickly reached Europe. In 1984, he released “Cocody Rock!!!” in France. The title track symbolised his life’s journey: Africa’s Bob Marley recorded it in Jamaica with The Wailers! Since then, he has released more than a dozen hit-packed albums, collecting every imaginable honour.

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