Aya Nakamura
Aya Danioko (born 10 May 1995), known professionally as Aya Nakamura, is a French-Malian singer-songwriter.
Aya Nakamura
Malian
French (since 2021)
Singer-songwriter
2014–present
2
Paris, France
- Vocals
- Ngoni
- Rec. 118
- Parlophone
- Warner Music France
Nakamura published her music online, gaining a following with "Karma" and "J'ai mal". Dembo Camara, a long-time friend, became her producer and manager. Notably, her song "Brisé", garnered traction on YouTube, and a duo with rapper Fababy "Love d'un voyou" resulted in her charting in France for the first time. She released her debut album Journal intime in 2017, followed in 2018 by its follow-up Nakamura, which was certified Diamond in France. More than 1.2 million copies have been sold worldwide, and her songs rank high in French-speaking countries and abroad. It spawned the hit singles "Djadja" and "Copines" and launched the singer's international career. The same year, she beat the record held by Édith Piaf since 1961 as the most listened-to French-speaking female artist in the Netherlands.[1]
Throughout her career, Nakamura accumulated five number-one songs and a number-one album in France. She was awarded a Victoires de la Musique award for her 2020 album Aya, certified double platinum in 2023,[2] having sold 200,000 copies. She also won an NRJ Music Award and received multiple nominations for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Act. Two year after its release, the Nakamura album passed the billion[1] streams mark on Spotify, making her the most listened-to French-language female artist on Spotify.[3]
In February 2023, she became Lancôme's new international beauty muse.[4]
Early life[edit]
Aya Danioko was born in Bamako, Mali on 10 May 1995. She comes from a family of griot, West African storytellers, praise singers, and poets of oral traditions. She immigrated to France with her family as a child, growing up in Aulnay-sous-Bois.[5] She is the oldest of five siblings.[6]
She studied fashion in La Courneuve, which she describes with "I wanted to be a fashion designer, but that stopped appealing to me, so I sang".[7] She later launched into music with the stage name Aya Nakamura, after the character Hiro Nakamura of the science fiction TV drama Heroes.[8]
She applied for French nationality as an adult and was granted it in May 2021.[9][10]
Artistry[edit]
Nakamura's music draws on genres such as pop, R&B, zouk, and Afrobeats, with Shamira Ibrahim of Pitchfork calling her "fearlessly genre-bending".[35] She writes her own lyrics.[36] They are in French and make frequent use of argot as well as expressions borrowed from other languages such as English, Arabic, and Bambara.[6] Due to her family's background, she has sometimes been described as continuing the griot tradition, but she argues that her work is different.[8]
Personal life[edit]
Nakamura is Muslim.[52]
Nakamura gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 2016.[53] She has declined to share the father's identity.[54] In October 2020, she confirmed her relationship with music video producer Vladimir Boudnikoff, with whom she had worked previously.[54] Their daughter was born in January 2022.[55] After an incident in August of the same year, Nakamura announced their separation the following October.[56] Both Nakamura and Boudnikoff were charged with reciprocal domestic violence in relation to the events of August 2022. On 23 February 2023, a Bobigny judge ruled that Nakamura had to pay a €10,000 fine, while Boudnikoff had to pay €5,000.[57]
Since 2019, Nakamura has supported the ALIYAH association, created by the parents of a young girl suffering from hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).[58]