‘This is Paris, not Mali’: French singer subjected to racist abuse for being considered for Olympics

Aya Nakamura is one of the most heard voices in French-language music. This week, rumors began to spread in the local press that the singer would perform an Edith Piaf song after a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

The hypothesis was not well received by French far-right movements, as demonstrated. This topic was discussed at the rally of the “Reconquer!” party. (“Reconquista!”), where Nakamura’s name was booed.

The singer, who was born in Bamako, the capital of Mali, achieved fame thanks to the success of the song “Djadja”, which has received more than a billion views on YouTube alone.

On Saturday, the small extremist group Les Natifs (The Natives) hung a banner near the Seine River in Paris that read: “This cannot happen.” [Ya pas moyen] Aya; This is Paris, not the Bamako market.”

The French translation of this phrase is a clear allusion to Nakamura’s “hit”. “Ya pas moyen” is a phrase used by the artist in the chorus of the song.

The singer responded: “They are racist, but they are not deaf.”

The singer, who has lived in France since childhood when she left the African country, reacted to the label of an extremist group. Confronted with the radicals’ insinuation about his lyrics, Nakamura responded.

“You may be a racist, but you are not deaf… that’s what hurts you! I become number one in the discussion… but what do I owe you? Nothing,” he shared on social networks.

The Olympic Committee came to the singer’s defense

Criticism of extremists may have the opposite effect of what groups critical of Nakamura hoped for, as the Olympic Committee came to the singer’s defense this week.

“We are very shocked by the racist attacks against Aya Nakamura in recent days. We offer all our support to the most popular French singer in the world,” the committee said, as quoted by the publication. AFP.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera also spoke out in defense of the singer. “It doesn’t matter, people love you. Don’t worry about a thing,” he wrote on X earlier on Twitter.

“They [extremistas] they say they love their country but want to exclude the most popular French singer since Edith Piaf. We cannot be racist and patriotic at the same time in France,” wrote Antoine Leaman of the La France Insoumise (Inanimate France) party.

This is not the first time Nakamura has been subjected to such attacks.

Aya Danioko, the Nakamura of the music world, lived in France since childhood. Since he began to gain more fame, he has been subject to racist attacks.

The Franco-Malian singer often uses hip-hop slang in her French-language songs, which has drawn some criticism.

“I can understand why they say: “Who does she think she is, making fun of our language,” the artist said in an interview with the publication AFP.

“But it’s important to accept other people’s cultures, and I have two cultures,” he added.