Aïcha Koné , originally from Gbon in the Boundiali department , is an Ivorian singer born onMay 21, 1957in Abidjan , and singing mainly in Sénoufo and Dioula. The daughter of a doctor, her beginnings were difficult due to the hostility of her father, Dr. Moussa Yanourga Koné, who was opposed to seeing his daughter pursue a musical career 1 . Aïcha truly began her musical career within the Ivorian Radio Television Orchestra ( ORTI ) where she was hired as a chorister under the direction, among others, of Boncana Maïga . The one who would become her mentor and until Farafina Miria would be her appointed arranger, was introduced to her by Georges Benson , then program director of Radio Télévision Ivoirienne RTI , who revealed her to the Ivorian public. The teenager rubs shoulders with other great masters of African music such as Manu Dibangowho she will work with. Of her years at ORTI, Aicha Koné says that they helped her to “organize and structure herself”. Very early influenced by the South African Myriam Makeba , whom she met during her Guinean exile , and challenged by the mandolins of Nana Mouskouri and the guitars of Enrico Macias with oriental accents which reminded her of Mandingo music , she released her first 45-rpm record , Denikeleni , in 1979.
