Oumou Sangare Releases Second Single, 'Kamlemba'

Oumou Sangaré will release the new single Kamelemba from her forthcoming album Mogoya (meaning 'people today') on the 12th May 2017.

On the song, Oumou sings to women about the dangers of falling in love with sweet talkers and liars. Kamelemba is inspired by the track, Dugu Kamelemba, from her 1993 album 'Ko Sira', which was written when Oumou was just 24 years old. Talking about the song now, Oumou says, 'it's about men who show off, who bring women down, about women who fall badly in love. I wrote that song to give advice to our sisters to be careful, because there are loads of kamelemba out there'. Oumou also explains that the lyrics are meant with a good deal of humour, 'we do a lot of teasing in African music. We tease each other, but it isn't malicious. These are messages we need to get across, but they're not really mean. I accuse men, but some say, 'women are like that too!'

Kamelemba features Sangaré's long-standing and trusted Kamel N'goni player, Benogo Diakité, alongside young Malian guitar player Guimba Kouyaté. The French production collective A.l.b.e.r.t. (who have also worked with Air, Beck and Franz Ferdinand) have added drum, bass and keyboards to the track to give the track a new modernity and to emphasise the raw power of Oumou's voice.

The album Mogoya is released on Nø Førmat! on the 19th May 2017.

Oumou's first single Yere Faga was released on the 3rd February 2017 and has already garnered praise for Oumou's new work on her new label, Nø Førmat!