Alpha Blondy

Alpha Blondy, born Seydou Koné at Dimbokro, Côte d'Ivoire, on 1 January 1953, is an Ivorian reggae singer and international recording artist whose songs are mainly sung in his native Dyula, French and English, and occasionally in other languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Jamaican Patois. ¹ Many of his songs are politically and socially motivated. ¹

The first son of a family of eight children, he was raised by his grandmother in an environment he has described as "among elders", which he says had a big impact on his career. ¹ In 1962 he joined his father in Odienné, where he spent ten years, attended Sainte Elisabeth High School, formed a band in high school, and was expelled for poor attendance. ¹ His parents sent him to study English in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1973; he spent thirteen months there and then moved to the United States, where in 1974 he majored in English at Hunter College and attended the Columbia University American Language Program while pursuing a career in teaching. ¹ In New York he was introduced to Rastafari and attended concerts by Jamaican artists including Burning Spear. ¹ Returning to the Ivory Coast, he reunited with his childhood friend Fulgence Kassi, a noted television producer, which began his career as a musician under the name Alpha Blondy. ¹

His breakthrough came with the album Jah Glory (1982), followed by albums including Cocody Rock and Apartheid Is Nazism, whose title song was a call for the end of apartheid. ¹ In 1986 he recorded the album Jerusalem with the Wailers, featuring Aston "Family Man" Barrett. ¹ He was appointed a United Nations Ambassador of Peace for Côte d'Ivoire. ¹

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

His religious position as the sources state it. The English article states no religion for him; it says he tried to promote unity between the religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, drawing his arguments and inspiration from his own knowledge of all three, and that his respect for all religions can be heard in tracks such as "God is One" and "Jerusalem", where he sang for unity between the religions. ¹ The Arabic article adds that he was born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother and that his grandmother taught him to respect all religions — a statement about his family and upbringing, not an attestation of his own affiliation. ² Wikidata carries no religion value for him at all, and no source names a legal school for him, so his record carries his faith as unknown. ³

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