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TIKEN JAH FAKOLY, was born in Odienne, a village in the north-west of Ivory Coast on 23 June 1968. The Fakoly family, members of the Malinke tribe, are descended from the legendary warrior chief Fakoly Koumba Fakoly Daaba and belong to the griot caste. The African griots are storytellers/musicians who guard the oral tradition of their people, their region and the most important families living there, recounting stories and legends through their music. As a young boy, Tiken developed a passionate interest in music, but he did not actually put his passion into practice until after the death of his father.Tiken was not an assiduous pupil at school, preferring to spend his time listening to music and attending local dances rather than studying. In an effort to get his son back on ’the right track’, Tiken’s father sent him to live with a relative in a neighbouring village called Gbeleban. But, far from turning Tiken away from music, this move only encouraged him .. for it was in Gbeleban that Tiken discovered reggae!At the age of 20 Tiken hooked up with a Ghanaian guitarist by the name of Joffrey and soon afterwards the pair went into the studio together to record their first demo tape. However, even at this early stage of his career, Tiken preferred playing live to working in the studio. He went on to form his first group, Djelys, around 1987 and the group and their charismatic lead singer soon built up an excellent reputation on the local music scene. By 1992 Djelys had become such a well-known fixture on the Ivory Coast scene that they were invited to support Solo Jah Gunt, one of the country’s leading reggae stars, in concert. The following year Djelys recruited a new member, enlisting the services of a French guitarist by the name of ’Spank!’. STILL ONE MESSAGE--------Tiken headed back to Kingston, Jamaica, in 2004 to record his new album, "Coup de Gueule," at the legendary Tuff Gong studios. The Ivorian reggae star enlisted the aid of the crack reggae team that had helped out on his last album, recruiting Tyrone Downie as producer and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare in the rhythm section. "Coup de gueule," which hit record stores in September 2004, found Tiken broadening his vision to tackle world problems like globalisation as well as hitting out against Africa-specific issues such as corruption. While keeping a distinctive Afro-Jamaican edge to his sound, Tiken opened his music up to new horizons via collaborations with a number of special guest stars. These included Didier Awadi from the group Positive Black Soul (who guested on "Quitte le pouvoir"), the Amokrane brothers from Zebda ("Ou veux-tu que j’aille") and Magyd Cherfi who co-wrote the song "Tonton d’America".Tiken had dreamt of launching his new album with a concert in Ivory Coast, but there were fears for his own safety and that of his fans. The singer, who is currently living in exile in Mali, launched "Coup de Gueule" in Bamako instead, performing a concert at the Modibo Keita Stadium on 2 October. 20,000 fans turned out to hear songs from his new album...FOOD FOR ALL---------Spotted by a tour promoter from Marlboro Music, Djelys were invited to take part in the "Marlboro Rockin’" talent contest in 1993. And Tiken’s band did themselves proud .. finishing 4th out of 200 contestants! Djelys’ success at the "Marlboro" talent contest opened a lot of doors for them and the group were quickly picked up on national radio and television. Needless to say, it was not long before Djelys were whisked into a local studio to record their debut album (simply entitled "Djelys").Tiken, the group’s lead singer, was also responsible for penning Djelys’ lyrics and music and his work soon began to catch on right across the country. The group went on to release their second album, "Missin", in 1994 and embarked on an extensive national tour soon afterwards. This tour coincided with a historic event in Ivory Coast’s political life, falling as it did during the first elections following the death of President Houphou..t Boigny (who had enjoyed a one-man reign in Ivory Coast from 1960 to 1993). The elections sparked a series of violent street protests and it was during this turbulent period that Tiken began writing his first songs denouncing corrupt politicians and abusive regimes. These songs made the up-and-coming reggae star an instant hit with teenage music fans in Ivory Coast and Tiken soon became a regular speaker at protests and political meetings.But it was the phenomenal success of "Mangercratie", a single released in 1996, that really catapulted Tiken to fame in West Africa. The hard-hitting message of this song revolved around Tiken’s demand that politicians should stop abusing people’s rights via their so-called democracies and other "-cracies" of all kinds and respect Africans’ inalienable right to have food on the table at meal times. Despite being partially censored by the national media, scored a huge hits in the charts in Ivory Coast, remaining at the top of the hit-parade for a full five months. And "Mangercratie" provided the perfect launchpad for Tiken’s solo career in 1997. Fans flocked to see the reggae ’protest’ singer wherever he appeared and by the end of the year Tiken was playing to stadium audiences of up to 20,000. Needless to say, he also became a popular fixture at music festivals up and down the country.Tiken’s music soon crossed national borders and spread to Europe and it was not long before he started making a name for himself in the ’world’ music capital, Paris. Tiken played his first concert in the French capital on 23 March 1998, bringing the house down on the "Makara" (a music barge moored on the banks of the Seine). Following this concert, Tiken was inundated with invitations to appear in concert throughout Paris and the provinces. And in May ’98 he performed at the "Africa Live" concert organised by RFI and Canal France Internationale at "Le Divan du Monde" in Paris (and broadcast live on French TV). On 12 July 1998, the day of the World Cup final, the Ivoirian star got football fans grooving to his infectious reggae beat at the Stade de France.While his European career continued to go from strength to strength, Tiken did not neglect his African fans. Indeed, he returned to Africa on a regular basis, embarking upon an extensive tour of Burkina Faso in 1998. At the end of that same year Tiken was one of the headlining acts at the "Musiques m..tisses" festival and he also supported French reggae outfit Sinsemilia at two concerts (on 4th and 5th December).ABIDJAN-PARIS-NEW YORK---------At the beginning of ’99 Tiken locked himself away in the studio and began work on his new album. He went on to tour Burkina Faso and Guinea later that year, but the highlight of his career in ’99 was a series of concerts in New York and Philadelphia where he appeared on stage with a Jamaican backing band.In May ’99, Tiken’s album "Mangercratie" was released in France. Shortly afterwards, the group Sinsemilia got in touch with the Ivorian reggae star and asked him to support them on tour. Throughout the summer and autumn of that year Tiken played an extensive series of concerts with the group, appearing at all the top French music festivals including "Fourvi..re" in Lyons and the "Francofolies" in La Rochelle. Tiken..s new album, "Cours d’Histoire" (History Lesson) was released in Ivory Coast at the end of that year. The album, which had been mixed in Jamaica, scored a huge hit with critics and music fans right across West Africa. ..Cours d..histoire.. featured Tiken’s usual social and political discourse, but also included songs such as "Descendant" which explored his personal relationship to African tradition and his ancestors.Shortly after the putsch masterminded by General Gue.. in December 1999, Tiken went back into the studio in Ivory Coast to record a series of new songs intended to remind the country..s new head of state of the promises he had made to the population. His album "Le Cameleon" was released solely in Ivory Coast in 2000, at the same time as "Cours d’Histoire" hit record stores in France. A few months later, Ivory Coast entered another turbulent period in its political history with rival factions rioting on the streets after controversial election results. Tiken’s outspoken criticism of corrupt politicians and abusive regimes made him a more potent protest symbol than ever and thousands of young Ivorians adopted him as a role model.In April 2000, Tiken was one of the headlining acts at the annual "Printemps de Bourges" festival in France. The Ivorian reggae star also brought the house down when he appeared at the "Completement Mandingue" festival in St Brieuc, Brittany. And he went on to give another stirring performance at the mega-reggae festival held at Bercy stadium in Paris on 24th June.On 2nd December 2000, Tiken was the star guest performer at RFI’s "Decouverte" talent contest organised in Cotonou, Benin. A few days later, on 7th December Tiken flew back to France to support the reggae group Israel Vibration at a concert in Tours.AN INTERNATIONAL STAR--------Having become a prominent figure of West-African music, Tiken was signed by Barclay. The prominent label offered him his biggest recording budget so far, encouraged by the commercial success of his previous album "Magercratie"..which had sold 500,000 copies without considering the many pirate editions. Tiken flew off to Jamaica to record his new album in the legendary Tuff Gong studios. Entitled "Francafrique", the album featured many impressive names: Tyrone Downie as producer and keyboard player, Sly for the bass, Robbie for the drums, guitarist Earl Smith, along with special guests Anthony B and U Roy..for "Justice". "Francafrique" included new versions of Tiken..s previous hits such as "Le Pays va mal" or "Y..en a marre", offering a compilation of the singer..s best pieces sung in French, English or Dioula. To promote this album, he embarked on a tour up and down France, bringing the house down at the Elysee-Montmartre on February 28, 2002.