Venue was filled and the audience waiting to see him come on stage, Alpha Blondy drew a big crowd.

Alpha Blondy, the Rasta of Cocody, was born Sedou Kone in Dimbokoro, Cote d'Ivoire, in 1953. Heavily influenced by the music of Bob Marley, Blondy considered himself a Rasta at an early age. So early, in fact, that he recorded six Reggae tunes while still in his teens. Blondy's parents were so concerned about his devotion to Reggae and the Rasta lifestyle that they committed him to a psychiatric hospital for two years!

Early in 1970 Reggae began to be popular in West Africa and Blondy's popularity grew to the point where, in the early '80s he recorded his first single, Brigidier Sabari. In 1983, he followed with his first album, Jah Glory and began touring all over Africa. It was at this point that Alpha made a pilmrimage to Jamaica to record with The Wailers at Tuff Gong Studios. The results of his efforts were the huge hit album, Cocody Rock, followed by Jerusalem and then Apartheid is Nazism.

Blondy sings in Dioula, English, French, Arabic, and Hebrew. His band, The Solar System, is likewise international, with members hailing from Cameroon, England, France, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, and Togo. Alpha Blondy and The Solar System are tight and hot, and Alpha's status as the premiere African Reggae star is richly deserved.

Alpha Blondy was named United Nations Ambassador of Peace for Côte d'Ivoire in 2005.

He made great efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to his country's political and physical division which was a result of an attempted Coup in 2001. As of March 2007 a peace agreement was signed and implemented, due to the hard work of many people including Alpha Blondy.

Alpha Blondy Jah Glory Foundation

Alpha now reaches out further with the newly created not-for-profit, non-government, non-political, charitable foundation, Alpha Blondy Jah Glory Foundation, which works towards ending social injustice and generational poverty by giving people the tools that they need to help themselves. He strongly believes in helping the poor (Jah Glory), and also that children should not be hurt.

Tafari-Genesis Retreat Camp

The Foundation strives to create and implement grassroots programs at the village level, such as the Women’s Self-Sufficiency Micro Loan Program, to teach women who are caring for multiple orphans how to start and manage their own business, to better provide for their families, as well as other sustainable projects, such as the Tafari-Genesis Retreat Camp for Children (Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso). It especially hopes to bring joy and hope to children who have been affected by civil wars, former child soldiers, and those who suffer from chronic life-threatening illnesses, such as sickle-cell anemia, malaria, asthma, etc.

Written by/Content : Lauren, Images/ Videos: Yeke

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