Born in 1964 in Sikorolen (Wassoulou), Souley Kanté explained that he was obliged to left school early because his family needed workers for the fields. He explains that he has always had a lot of pleasure in singing and that he “has always had the best marks in music at school before he left. But it’s Coumba Sidibé who gave me the envy to make an artistic career with the success of her song "Djiyayébanan" which inspired me a lot. So I prayed to have her talent and have success as much or more than her”. At the beginning, Souley worked with instruments’ players such as Siné Sidibé, Bénogo Diakité and Satigui Sidibé. His reputation spreading beyond the frontiers of the Wassoulou, he decided to come to live in the capital in order to have more opportunities to realise his dream: a real artistic career. Thus he formed a band with the famous Sali Sidibé before making tours with the great diva Oumou Sangaré. “After this experiences that have been very enriching for me, I decided to make a solo career” explains the virtuoso of the kamelen n’goni. With his first album "Djinèko", Souley Kanté was considered as a sure asset of the Malian music. It is confirmed by hits such as "Fulaso", "Fasya", "Kôrôlen" and "Bi Magni" and "Nagnuman" which will soon be available on the radios. All the works of Souley have been real success. “I don’t sing only for the pleasure. I take time to compose my songs so they can bring something more to those who will listen to them. And to satisfy music lovers, I inspire myself from the human behaviour, from social events, scourges traditions and customs…” he said to explains his success; success which is unfortunately not translated financially. He reckoned with bitterness and disappointment that he has never taken advantages from the success of his albums. Who’s guilty? “I think that the cupidity of the producers is the most important sore of the Malian music, they are the first pirates! The interest of the artist doesn’t mean anything to them. The essential for them is to have the maximum with the sales of the works and for that; they are able to come to terms with the devil. The rights of the artists are nothing to them” said the young smith. In his opinion, the best arm to fight against piracy is the union of the artists and the adoption of severe laws against the scourge. In the meantime he’s been wise enough to change his producer and confide his destiny to Jaamnaty Production. The cooperation began two years ago with "Kôrôlen" and continued with "Bi Magni" and "Magnuman". Aly Landouré is serious and like is job. He cares about the interest of his artists but also about their lives. He’s one of the rare producers to make the promotion correctly… “I like his way of working and I think that I will succeed to do a lot of things with him” said the star of Sikorolen. Artist, auto engineer, smith and traditional doctor, Souley Kanté hopes to conquer Africa and the whole world with the help of Jaamnaty and Mali K7. “Despite the success I have in my country, I’ve never had the chance to go on tours since I began my solo career. I hope I will fill this gap by try to enter the international show-biz”. He’s aware that the success of these two albums can be a stepping stone to realise his dream. So he hopes that his fans will support and help him in this way. The best way to help an artist is to sell or buy only legal works with the stickers of the Bumda. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.