THE IVORIAN REGGAE SENSATION STILL GOING STRONG

June 04, 2026 - 11:58 AM

In the 1980s, music was sold on audio cassettes. These cassettes, most of them pirated, were hawked on the streets and even in markets in rural areas.

I remember visiting one cassette vendor and, upon checking his display, noticing that one musician dominated the board: Alpha Blondy, an Ivorian reggae sensation of the era.

The music was also playing on a horn speaker in a stand hoisted by the vendor to market his music. Maybe it is for these reasons that Blondy's songs were on everyone's lips.

His songs, "Masada" and "Brigadier Sabari," among many others, were household names at the time. Reggae was particularly attractive to the country's young population because of its predominant themes of slavery and revolution topics that resonated well with them owing to the rebellious spirit often associated with groups struggling for identity.

It also happened that Kenya’s only broadcaster, VOK, had an editorial policy that discouraged such songs, perhaps for fear that the lyrics might plant seeds of discord among the youth. As such, reggae remained largely confined to clubs and local dances until much later, when the genre was popularized by Jeff Mwangemi on the radio through the programme Reggae Time, which aired every Thursday morning.

The authorities' disdain for the genre only stoked the country's thirst for reggae. Having Lucky Dube as the only other prominent African reggae musician made the Ivorian polyglot an even more powerful brand.

Alpha Blondy was born Seydou Koné in Dimbokro, Côte d'Ivoire, on January 1, 1953. Young Seydou began his musical journey while still a high school student at St. Elizabeth School. He later proceeded to college in Monrovia, the capital of neighboring Liberia.

He subsequently moved to the United States, where he studied English at Hunter College in New York. It was there that he was introduced to Rastafarianism by Jamaican musicians he encountered during his stay. Upon returning to his home country, he recorded his first album, Jah Glory, which became an instant hit.

This was the album that contained the song "Brigadier Sabari." The song inadvertently became an anthem of resistance, not just in Abidjan but across Africa. Although Africa had freed itself from the yoke of colonialism more than a decade earlier, it was still grappling with the realities of underdevelopment, poor human rights records, and extreme poverty.

The first generation of leaders, many of whom had been the faces of their countries' struggles for independence, turned out to be no better than the colonizers and, in some cases, were even worse. This plunged the continent into a wave of coups. Naturally, Seydou's songs became very popular. By then, he had adopted the stage name Alpha Blondy.

"To reach a bigger audience, you have to sing in many languages," Alpha was once quoted as saying by a French newspaper.

With the ability to sing in English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, and his native Dioula, the polyglot had an edge over many reggae musicians. Bob Marley was his greatest role model, and it was therefore no surprise that he traveled to Jamaica to record his album Jerusalem at Marley's Tuff Gong Studios.

His 1985 album Apartheid Is Nazism strongly condemned apartheid in South Africa. The segregation that separated native South Africans from the ruling white minority had reached a fever pitch, with the entire continent uniting in condemnation of the injustice. This struggle naturally found expression in music, and reggae, through this Ivorian singer, became one of its most powerful voices.

Alpha Blondy suffered mental health challenges in the late 1980s, forcing him to take breaks from music. However, each time he recovered, he returned with a new album. He also spent time in Europe, from where he released songs inspired by global events, including "Yitzhak Rabin" following the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister.

Worth noting is that his views on religion also found their way into his music. He advocated for harmony among the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam frequently reflected these themes in his songs.

Alpha Blondy has recorded more than 20 albums, comprising more than 100 songs. Among his popular songs are Apartheid Is Nazism, Brigadier Sabari, Cocody Rock, Come Back Jesus, I Wish You Were Here, Jah Glory, Jerusalem, Masada, Peace In Liberia, Pardon, and many more.

Blondy is still active in music and continues to perform internationally. One of his recent high-profile performances was at a presidential event attended by Alassane Ouattara. He remains one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of African music and one of the continent's most celebrated reggae musicians, alongside the late South African icon Lucky Dube.

BY: JEROME OGOLA