Aya Coco Danioko (French pronunciation: [aja danjɔko];born 10 May 1995), known by her stage name Aya Nakamura (/ˈaɪə ˌnækəˈmʊərə/ EYE-ə NAK-ə-MOOR-ə), is a French-Malian pop singer. She is best known for her hit song “Djadja”.
She was born in Bamako and immigrated to France with her family, growing up in Aulnay-sous-Bois. Coming from a family of griots, she is the oldest of five siblings. She studied fashion at La Courneuve. She later launched into music with the stage name Aya Nakamura, after the character Hiro Nakamura of the NBC Heroes science fiction drama series.
Nakamura published her music online, gaining a following with “Karma” and “J’ai mal”. Dembo Camara, a long-time friend, became her producer and manager. Notably, her song “Brisé”, composed by Christopher Ghenda, garnered 34 million views on YouTube, and a duo with rapper Fababy “Love d’un voyou” resulted in her charting in France. She released her debut album with a number of collaborations. She also had a big concert at Stade Modibo Kéïta in Bamako, where she opened for the Nigerian star Davido.
Early life
Born Aya Coco Danioko in Bamako, Mali on May 10, 1995 from a family of griot (west African storytellers, praise singers, poets of oral traditions). She is the oldest of five siblings. At an early age, her family came to France and moved to Paris Northern suburbs in Aulnay-sous-Bois. She took the name Nakamura after the character Hiro Nakamura of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes.
Career
2014–2017: Debut and first success with Journal intime
In 2014, at the age of 19, she released her first single “Karma” on Facebook. With the help of the producer Seysey, she composed a break-up song, “J’ai mal”, with a zouk type of melody. The song’s video reached more than 1 million YouTube views by that time. An old-time friend, Dembo Camara, became her producer and artistic agent.
In 2016, she made the song “Brisé” with the composer Christopher Ghenda.. Then she released another song, “Love d’un Voyou”, featuring the rapper Fababy.
As a tribute to her cultural heritage and roots, she did a concert at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, opening for the American-Nigerian star Davido. And she dedicated a song to one of the most famous Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, who was born in Bamako just like her.
In January 2016, the singer signed a deal with Rec. 118, a label from Warner music France. During the same year, she kept on doing collaborations and she released her second single “Super Héros”, featuring the rapper Gradur.
On 25 August 2017, she released her debut album Journal Intime, led by her first Platinum hit, “Comportement”.
The album was certified Platinum in France. On 23 September 2017, she participated to La Nuit du Mali in Bercy organized by the Wati-Boss, Dawala in order to celebrate the Independence Day of Mali in Paris. She shared the stage with Oumou Sangaré and other Malian artists such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Lassana Hawa or Mokobé among others.
2018–2020: Nakamura
On 6 April 2018, Aya Nakamura released “Djadja”—the first single from her second album—which stayed two consecutive weeks at number one on the French chart, and was later certified Diamond.
The song quickly became a summer hit in France and soon became an international hit. She became the first French female artist to reach number one in the Netherlands since Edith Piaf with “Non je ne regrette rien” in 1961.
“Djadja” was also the first Francophone song since 2009 to reach the top of the Dutch charts, the last one being “Alors on danse” from Belgian artist Stromae.
“Djadja” then conquered charts and radios all over Europe (Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland…
