On Saturday, September 27, 2023, Abdou Lahad Thioune, better known as Jahman X-Press, will be playing at Le Point Fort in Aubervilliers. We can be sure of one thing: he will propose us a live mixing urban afro and Mbalax. But with an artist of this caliber, you have to expect everything.

Jahman X-press or Mr. Refrain
Nicknamed “Mr. Chorus,” Jahman X-press is a never-ending star, captivating anyone who has the chance to hear his melodious voice. His unique and unclassifiable style transcends genres and resonates far beyond the borders of Senegal. Jahman X-Press has thus become a key reference on the music scene in Senegal and internationally. This concert will be memorable.

Debut with the X-PRESS group
In 2005, Jahman X-Press entered the music industry with the band X-PRESS, alongside Brahim and King Selmind. Like a breeze that comes to invigorate a hot day, it breathes new energy into the group, giving them a new breath. Together, they arrange pieces such as “Ken Demoul Gnou Dess” (2010) and “Biir Ak Biti” (2016), albums that resonate like hymns within the Senegalese musical landscape. Hits like “Sama Baat”, “Am Am”, “Reer” and “Présent” make the audience dance, and the group’s performances from Dakar to Paris enchant the crowds and build their reputation. The group won many awards, including the Best Rap Group at the NESCAFÉ African Revelation competition in 2005 and the Best Album Group at the Top Awards in 2017, thus making their name part of the Senegalese musical pantheon.

A brilliant solo career
From 2018, Jahman X-Press will start a solo career. Like a caterpillar that has reached maturity and becomes a butterfly, he flies off alone to new horizons and then reveals the full extent of his artistic talent, spreading his wings with titles such as “Bamba la paix”, “Bamba Nieup”, “Bamba la Joie” and “Bamba Teranga”, in collaboration with Ahmada Jadid. These songs, true songs of peace and unity, resound like prayers. Other pieces, such as “Wakh Ma Allooo”, “Def Si Code” and “Ndeye”, show his ability to explore a range of varied themes while remaining true to the essence of his art. But Jahman X-Press is not only a master of the microphone; he is also a guitar virtuoso, a complete artist whose versatility allows him to navigate with ease through various musical currents.

Abiyo: the consecration
In 2021, Jahman X-Press takes a new step in his career with the release of the album “Abiyo”. Like an alchemist, he brings together renowned artists such as Ashs the Best, Selmind, NIX, Dayza Akhlou Brick and Dip Doundou Guiss to create a musical project that will be acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. This album is a jewel that shines with a thousand lights, confirming that Jahman X-Press is here to conquer the Senegalese music scene. His place among the rising stars is now engraved in the firmament.

Star on YouTube
Jahman X-Press is also a digital phenomenon; it’s a real star on YouTube. For years, he was the number one artist in Senegal, surpassing his peers. His video “Reer” became the first of its kind to reach the million-view mark in March 2016, a feat that demonstrates the depth of its impact. This popularity on social media is a reflection of his success and the influence of his music, which crosses the borders of Senegal to reach the whole world.

An artist to watch
With a career that is growing ever stronger, Jahman X-Press continues to inspire and gather around his music. His collaborations with renowned artists such as Wally Ballago Seck, Titi, Fou Malade and even the international group Sexion d’Assaut are proof of his open-mindedness and determination to push the boundaries of his art. His successful career has made him one of the great names in the African music scene. Jahman X-Press is a surprising artist whose voice will continue to resonate in the hearts of music lovers for years to come

On Saturday, September 27, 2024, Abdou Lahad Thioune, aka Jahman X-Press, was in concert at Le Point Fort d’Aubervilliers. He proposed to music lovers, many came to see him, a sober and refined urban afro live, punctuated by this rhythm so characteristic of Senegalese artists: the mbalax.

Small focus
Point Fort. Aubervilliers. France. I was there, in the first box, standing up, enthusiastic, for 6000 km, somewhere, over there, in a small town located in the North of Ivory Coast. I know you’re going to ask yourself this question, which is a big and overwhelming question. I’ll give you the answer. When I’m not going to let you chew your noses off. Well, in this century of the internet, almost anything is possible. I explain the thing in one sentence: the charming presenter A. Diamanka, made me live this concert on WhatsApp.

Jahman, an artist with a clean and sharp
The artist made his entrance as an ordinary person. A two-tone Afro cut, a gold pendant without ostentation, a black t-shirt, a wide jeans faded and barefoot, that’s how Jahman got on the podium. He follows the series of his favorite repertoire, sometimes in fast flows, sometimes in staccato, sounds that go from wolof to French through English, not forgetting, of course, the wolof. But there was always in his sometimes dark, sometimes incisive texts, that zest of fantasy and seriousness that makes the artist’s charm.

The aesthetics of light
Behind the artist, a divine orchestra that distilled beautiful colored notes and behind the orchestra, a large red curtain whose brightness was supported by rotating projectors that diffused liquid light that intoxicated the eyes. To say this in a more poetic, aesthetic way, we will say that the moving head poured out beauty on stage. With this aesthetic light and the beautiful voice of this outstanding artist, music lovers could only receive a deep emotion. When all the objects, all the artists on a stage take the vivacity of colors, we can only be amazed.

JAHMAN, comfortable in all musical genres
At this concert, he demonstrated it again. A clever cross between different musical styles that delights the senses. To the rhythm from elsewhere, he mastifies his phrasing with wolof expressions. We dreamed about it: Jahman did. This guitar virtuoso has offered to lovers of good music a setting as sober as luxurious. Those who made the trip did not get bored. Nicknamed “Monsieur Refrain”, Jahman X-press has once again confirmed that he is a complete artist on whom Senegalese music can count. No musical current resists him, he is comfortable in all genres.

On Saturday, September 14, 2024, at 7:30 pm, at the Wafou in Biétri, Nin’wlou, the slammer poet, will be in Concert Slam. When I talk about him, many will say it’s “something else”. And they’ll be right, because it’s going to be “Something Else” than a concert.

Around the slam
Even if the slam is now highly publicized “Le slam va bien, comme le disent les slameurs eux-mêmes”, it remains that it still hesitates to submit easily to attempts of definition, classification. It is a concept that could be described as polysemic since it is quite fluffy. Poetry? What poetry? A form of poetry? Singing? Rap?… A kind of African orality? Or a form of expression that is an intersection of several forms of artistic expression… Also, to be established in this environment (as elsewhere), any slameur must be original, that is to say, stand out from the crowd and draw crowds. And that’s Nin’wlou! Do not always recite the same texts without breath and avoid to invoke to pull-larigot common places devoid of charm. To be at the top, the slameur must always surprise himself. Ninwlou has understood this so well that he is now one of the essential voices of slam in West Africa.

Something else, like a maieutic
One thing is certain: “Autre Chose” will be “Of lightning and lightning: song of embers for a freedom in flames” – Thank you to the Muses with winged breasts for inspiring me this phrase: incruster Jean-Marie Adiaffi in this Autre Chose that Nin’wlou is about to offer. This association of poets prophesies what will happen. In this slam concert, the speech will be sometimes fire, sometimes embers; in any case, it will be something different than everything you have seen or heard on the slam. Artistic magic is using everyday words to breathe their own breath. Today and for eternity, the slam will remember that Nin’wlou did something else.

When the crisis gives rise to a vocation
Yet Nin’wlou’s love of words only began in 2010, the year of the post-election crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. As what, some brains only come to boil when bullets whistle over their heads. Since then, he has been constantly receiving awards and honours, both in the music scene “Man Tchè”, “Niehi, “Pour ces mômes” and in literature (Marche du Feu, 2022).

A voice for the future
With his voice a little nastily, Nin’wlou slame like a stand-upper. Donel Jack’sman sums up the artist’s art perfectly with this phrase: “… it is when a guy has the grace to make you believe that everything he tells is not written, that it is totally impro.” Nin’wlou energizes words, even those that are outdated, with an elegant panache. Go see Nin’wlou on stage unrolling his great lyric poetry. The slam of Nin’wlou, metaphors that trap and dazzle: the poetic panenka.

Ninw’lou