Rokia Traoré (born January 26, 1974) is a Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist.
I used to play guitar for myself and write lyrics and listen to different styles of music.
There are some things around us that are not actually useful. I didn't know that before. It's very new for me to understand. That became my way of writing: I can see also the new myself.
Of course I am stressed after I finish working on an album about what an audience will think, if it will be successful or not.
The fact of playing an instrument and singing. . . that I can try to make my dream of singing and becoming a professional musician come true is linked probably to the fact that I traveled a lot, which gave me an open mind and an ability to push my limits.
Of course the folk guitar is the one I play very often, but I wanted a more electric sound.
An artist who doesn't have any audience is not an artist.
Traveling changed my personality and gave me ability to do the music I do and to think in a certain way that everything can be possible.
I think about all these influences and musical cultures, then the opinion of the audience is of course important, but when I'm working on an album or a new project, I'm not all the time thinking about what the audience will think about it.
I prefer simple things - monotone melodies repeating the same things all the time. Because I think life is like that.