Inna MODJA

Having received early guidance from the acclaimed world musician Salif Keita, Malian singer Inna Modja turned away from her African musical origins toward a mainstream soul-pop aesthetic shaped by her wide-ranging travels. Inna Bocoum entered the world in Bamako, Mali, during 1984. Her mother supplied both the stage name Inna Modja, whose meaning is “naughty girl,” and a place in a children’s choir once she reached the age of five. The Otis Redding, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles albums owned by her parents, together with the affinity her six siblings felt for hip-hop, disco, and heavy metal, prompted her to seek a life in music. She first appeared as a backing vocalist with the Rail Band de Bamako, then relocated with her family to Paris after spending time in Nigeria, Togo, and the U.S. Up Music signed her in 2009, issuing the debut album Everyday Is a New World; the follow-up, Love Revolution, arrived in 2011 and contained the hit single “French Cancan.”