The child of Burkina, rapper Joey le Soldat, has just released his 4th album: Back to the Roots. the flow is still just as angry, the words still just as committed and the message clearly stated: the need for dialogue and unity. Portrait of a 38-year-old artist, proud to carry the voice of his country and more broadly “of a continent in struggle”.
A deep voice, a flow submachine gun and often angry, sometimes soulful, sometimes electro productions, the sound of Joel Windtoin Sawadogo, better known as Joey the Soldier, 38, is recognizable in all.
After being fed with the hip hop of the big brothers of the district – Wu Tang Clan, IAM, NTM – and writing his first texts in college within the group Les Phénomènes, Joey le Soldat delivers, in 2012, his 1st album: Speech is my weapon. will follow Burkin Ba (2014), barka (2017), the EP faaso (2019) and, today Back to the Roots.
Often rapped in moré, one of the languages spoken in Burkina Faso, his words are rooted both in the history of his continent and in the social realities of his country. His songs speak of unpaid salaries, overcrowded hospitals, the crowded public university campus, corruption, but also and above all the need for dialogue and unity.
Passing through Paris, Joey le Soldat gave me an appointment at the Café du Théâtre, in the 18th arrondissement, just before the midday service. And because he partly grew up and still lives today in Ouagadougou, the capital of the “country of honest men”, we talked about the Tanghin district, the Place de la Révolution or even the bar, the Ouaga Jungle, evocative places in his journey.
SessionLab by Hortense Volle : a conversation in complete privacy and in 3D audio (spatialized sound). A podcast to listen to, preferably, with headphones.
Achievement : Benjamin Sarralie
3D mixing : Fabien Mugneret
Production : RFI Lab
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Titles broadcast
► Single: Emergency state (2019)
► Excerpts from the album Back to the Roots (2022- Sodass Music): The introduction ; Mbale ; sick and sad; pa gounssi ; Without pretention ; I Willy ; Mow Tega ; More than that ; Inaya ; fatim ; the fight ; old-school ; Roots
► Excerpts from the album barka (2017- Tentacles Record): Skirmishers ; M’Maan ; Goomde
► Excerpts from the album Burkin Ba (2014 – Tentacles Record): Soldier ; Burkin Ba