''Folila'' is the sixth studio album by

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

musicians

Amadou & Mariam Amadou & Mariam were a blind musical duo from Mali, composed of Bamako-born Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (24 October 1954 – 4 April 2025) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born 15 April 1958). As well as being a musical duo, they were a ma ...

. The title means "music" in Bambara.Tsioulcas, Anastasia
First Listen: Amadou And Mariam, 'Folila'

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. 1 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.

Recording

''Folila'' was originally going to be two separate albums. One album was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and featured contributions from

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), Dave Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, '' Santogold'' (2008), was released by Atlantic Records and met with widespread critica ...

Nick Zinner Nicholas Joseph Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is the guitarist and record producer for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zinner is also a photographer. Musical career Before forming the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs with Karen O and Brian Chase in 2000 ...

Jake Shears Jason Sellards (born October 3, 1978), known professionally by the stage name Jake Shears, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist of New York City pop-rock band Scissor Sisters, who achi ...

Theophilus London Theophilus Musa London (born February 23, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. He is best known for his guest appearance alongside Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney on Kanye West's 2015 single " All Day", which peaked at num ...

, members of

Antibalas Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof") is an American, Brooklyn-based afrobeat band founded in 1998 by Martín Perna. Initially inspired by Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra, the music generally follows ...

and

Bertrand Cantat Bertrand Lucien Bruno Cantat (, ; born 5 March 1964) is a French singer, songwriter, and murderer. Known for being the former frontman of the rock band Noir Désir, in 2003, he was proven guilty without a doubt and convicted of the murder ("murde ...

. A second album, featuring the same set of songs, was recorded in Amadou and Mariam's hometown of

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

and featured a team of African artists. However, the couple decided to combine the two albums together to create ''Folila.''

Reception

''Folila'' has received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the album has a score of 71 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable review."Critic Reviews for Folila

. Retrieved 30 April 2012. Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album a positive review, writing "Forget prejudices about '

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

'; Folila is great music. Period."

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

's Kyle Anderson also praised the album, writing "Though they sing in different languages, the tongue of teamwork makes for universal understanding .

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

's Joe Tangari wrote: "Even if ''Folila'' is less surprising than the two albums that came before it, it still makes me look forward to seeing where they'll take this fusion next."

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

's Doug Heselgrave wrote of the guest musicians: "Musical purists may grumble that the only reason listeners first come to this album is because of the many guests that appear on it. But, really, who cares? Amadou & Mariam’s music is strong enough to stand on its own, and it’s a fair bet that people who start with ''Folila'' won’t stop listening until they’ve heard all of their albums."

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

's David Katz, on the other hand, was mixed on how the album was assembled, writing "If your tastes are eclectic enough, and if you can get past the factor of contriving, you are bound to love this entire album. But more selective souls may find themselves reaching for the fast-forward button, as perhaps the original plan would have yielded a more cohesive whole."

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

's Neil Spencer criticized

' and

Amp Fiddler Joseph Anthony "Amp" Fiddler (May 17, 1958 – December 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. His musical styles included funk, soul, dance and electronica. He was probably best kn ...

's contributions, calling them "marginal." Summing up the album, Spencer wrote: "''Folila'', packed with western friends, mixes the inspired and mundane." The album was listed at #49 on

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

's list of the top 50 albums of 2012.50 Best Albums of 2012

. Retrieved 23 December 2012. ''Folila'' was also nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originall ...

in 2012.

Track listing

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''Folila:''Folila - Credits

. Retrieved 30 April 2012.

Mariam & Amadou

* Amadou Bagayoko - Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals * Mariam Doumbia - Composer, Vocals

Additional musicians

*Yvo Abadi - bass, drums, percussion *

Tunde Adebimpe Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe (; born February 25, 1975) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio, with whom he has recorded five st ...

- composer, vocals *Victor Axelrod - keyboards, Wurlitzer *Stuart Bogie - tenor sax *

-composer, doum-doum, guitar, harmonica, vocals *Tony Cousins - Mastering *Baubacar Dembélé - Djembe *Boubacar Dembele - Balafon, Conga, Djembe, Doum-doum *Vieux Dembélé - Djembe *Yao Dembele - Bass, Percussion *Sidiki Diabate - Kora *Tomani Diabate - Kora *Ebony Bones - Composer, Vocals *Amp Fiddler - Keyboards *Ahmed Fofana - Bass, Flute, Keyboards *Sanogo Foussn - Doum-doum *Laurent Griffon - Bass *Antoine Halet - Collaboration, Engineer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Mixing *Bassekou Kouyate - Ngoni *Christophe Millot - Clarinet (Bass) *

- Composer, Vocals *

Kyp Malone Kyp Malone (born February 27, 1973) is an American multi-instrumentalist and member of the bands TV on the Radio, Iran, Rain Machine, and Ice Balloons. Biography Malone grew up in Moon Township, Pennsylvania and moved to New Jersey for High Scho ...

- Composer, Vocals *Manjul - Percussion *Jordan McLean - Trumpet *

- Composer, Vocals *

- Composer, Vocals *Idrissa Soumaro - Organ, Piano *Jared Tankel - Sax (Baritone) *Tanti Kouaté & Her Choir - Choir, Chorus *

- electric and acoustic guitar * Abdallah Oumbadougou - composer, vocals

Additional personnel

* Julien Bescond - A&R * Josh Grant - Engineer, Mixing * Kennie Takahashi - Mixing * Renaud Letang - Mixing * Marc Antoine Moreau - A&R, Arranger, Composer, Producer * François Morel - Design * Thomas Moulin - Assistant * Benoît Peverelli - Photography

Charts

References

External links

Nonesuch Records' page on ''Folila''
{{Authority control 2012 albums Amadou & Mariam albums Nonesuch Records albums