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Paper short abstract:

I will analyze Van Baxy's song and video “Le Mali” (2016), which is an ode to Maliba or the Mali Empire, and focus on Van Baxy's reinterpretation of Fanga Dan Kélé ("Power changes hands!", broadcast on Radio Mali in 1963), a song by Bazoumana Sissoko, and on Mali reimagined by Van Baxy.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyzes how artists are attempting to respond to the multi-dimensional crisis that Mali has been experiencing since the political-security crisis occurred in 2012. Following the example of Bamako rapper Van Baxy, some believe that the crisis can be explained, among other things, by a form of renunciation by the nation and the State of its ancient history and its social, societal, cultural and symbolic values, hence the need for a return to them.

To illustrate the point, we'll analyze Van Baxy's song and video "Le Mali" - uploaded to YouTube in 2016 and totaling 568,000 views by the end of January 24 - which is an ode to Maliba or Grand Mali or the Mali Empire in the Manding tradition. The analysis will focus on three main points: Van Baxy's biographical and artistic trajectory, the mobilization of the past through the reinterpretation of Fanga Dan Kélé ("Le pouvoir change de main!", broadcast on Radio Mali in 1963), a song by the great jeli or griot Bazoumana Sissoko - whose genealogy will be reconstructed - and, finally, the Mali reimagined by Van Baxy.

From a historical perspective, we'll show how Mali's immediate history is thus revisited and rethought within a longer history, itself subject to divergent readings according to local political actors.