Super Baraka | Amadou Balaké

Amadou Balaké was born in 1944 in Ouahigouya, in the northern-east of Burkina Faso. After the death of his father, he relocated with his mother in the capital of the country, Ouagadougou, where he began to meet several local musicians. Shortly after he went to Mali to work as a chauffeur apprentice, and only returned to Ouagadougou six years later. He worked some time in construction, and then became a taximan. After the loss of his vehicle, he went to Mali and was engaged as a professional musician in the Grand Hotel orchestra.
In 1963 he left Mali to play in the Tropicana orchestra in Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, but only six months later he went to Guinea. Leader of the Bafinf Jazz band, he participated there in many musical competitions, and regularly played for president Sékou Touré meetings across the country.
He returned to Burkina at the end of the 60's, and became very popular in the country thanks to his work with the Harmonie Voltaïque band. Convided by producer Aboudou Lassissi, he went to Abidjan at the beginning of the 70's, where he made his breakthrough with the song "Taximan n'est pas gentil". After several records in Ivory Coast, the duo went to New York, where they recorded, among others, the gem "Yamba" ("drug") in 1977. After a serious strike with Lassissi, Amadou had to work as a singer in a club for a while, and eventually went back to Burkina Faso to take care of his mother, who died several weeks later.
Since the 80's, he has been envolved in the salsa/pachanga band "Africando".

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Even when the original slow down version is a masterpiece, this version is just phenomenal.

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Poor