Aya Nakamura
Aya Coco Danioko (born 10 May 1995), known professionally as Aya Nakamura, is a French-Malian singer-songwriter. She began publishing her music online, gaining a following with the songs “Karma” and “J’ai mal”. Dembo Camara, a longtime friend, became her producer and manager. Her song “Brisé” garnered traction on YouTube, and a duet 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 Nakamura, which was certified diamond in France and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. The album 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.[2]
Throughout her career, Nakamura has 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, which was certified double platinum in 2023,[3] 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 years after its release, Nakamura surpassed a billion[2] streams on Spotify, making the singer the most-listened-to French-language female artist on the platform.[4]
In February 2023, she became Lancôme‘s international beauty muse.[5]
Early life
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Aya Coco 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 emigrated to France with her family as a child and grew up in Aulnay-sous-Bois.[6] She applied for French nationality as an adult and was granted it in May 2021.[7][8] She is the oldest of five siblings.[9]
Danioko studied fashion in La Courneuve. In a 2017 interview with Le Monde, she stated, “I wanted to be a fashion designer, but that stopped appealing to me, so I sang”.[10] She later launched into music under the stage name Aya Nakamura, after the character Hiro Nakamura of the American science fiction TV drama Heroes.[11]
Career
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2014–2017: Journal intime
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In 2014, at the age of 19, Nakamura released her first single, “Karma”, on Facebook. With the help of producer Seysey, she composed the breakup song “J’ai mal”, with a zouk-inspired melody.
In 2016, she made the song “Brisé” with composer Christopher Ghenda. She followed it with “Love d’un Voyou”, featuring rapper Fababy. She performed at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, opening for American-Nigerian star Davido.[citation needed]
In January 2016, she signed a deal with Rec. 118 and Parlophone, a subsidiary of Warner Music France. The same year, she released the single “Super Héros”, featuring rapper Gradur.
On 25 August 2017, she released her debut album, Journal intime, led by her first platinum hit, “Comportement“. The record was certified platinum in France. On 23 September 2017, she participated in La Nuit du Mali at Bercy, in order to celebrate Malian Independence Day. She shared the stage with Oumou Sangaré and other Malian artists, such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Lassana Hawa, and Mokobé.[12]
2018–2020: Nakamura
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On 6 April 2018, Nakamura released “Djadja“—the first single from her second album—which stayed two consecutive weeks at number one on the French charts and was later certified Diamond.[13]
The song became a hit in France as well as internationally. Nakamura became the first French female artist to reach number one in the Netherlands since Édith Piaf with “Non, je ne regrette rien“, in 1961.[14]
“Djadja” was also the first Francophone song since 2009 to reach the top of the Dutch charts, the last one being “Alors on danse” by Belgian artist Stromae.[15] “Djadja” then conquered charts and radios all over Europe.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
Nakamura’s next single was “Copines”, released in August 2018. It entered at number four in France before climbing to number one in November 2018 and was also certified Diamond.[13]
On 2 November 2018, Nakamura released her second a
