words of Azia

« Two homes are better than one » ❤️🇨🇮

wordsofAzia (@wordsofazia ) welcomes us into the spiritual, pan-African sounds of bété jazz. “There’s more that unites the African youth than divides us, and I’m interested in connecting those dots through my music,” the French-Ivorian artist tells us during her trip to Kenya. Exclusive: Nataal.com @nataalmedia Words Naila Aroni (@naila997_ ) Direction Kaza Kaza (@kazakaza.hq ) Creative direction Sukuma Wiki (@sukuma.wiki ) Photography Matthew Matete (@matthewmatete ) Styling Kennedy Mirema (@kennedymirema ) Art direction Mary Muko (@nitakach0 ) Henna art Leila Khan (@mendhi_by_leila_ ) Production & location scouting Jumah Jatteh (@jumahjatteh ) Accessories Adele Dejak (@adeledejak ) #nataalmedia #wordsofazia

Something special happened on Friday… I have been reading a lot lately about coping with nature and learning to adjust to its motions. So I came prepared for the show, knowing I could handle everything. I remember the shift, when the mask entered the stage as I was singing “Glory”, feeling the wind rising as I was playing the guitar, looking around thinking, “Wow… something special is happening”… The idea of this project for Nahio, from the making of the song, the video, to the concert, was to create togetherness. God knew this would bring us closer, when you guys all sat on the stage to find shelter, as Isaac and I kept playing songs for you. I will cherish and never forget this moment. Thank you all for bringing to life this idea: that we can all care for each other. I’ll keep you updated on the people we made this for. 🤍 Major, major thanks to @pure_cocoaian , this would have been so different without your help. Grateful for people like you who feed Ivorian culture the way you do. Long live @bushman.cafe ! Thank you to my brother @isaac.mambo.18 , such a talented human. Thank you for bringing your light into this project. On se lâche plus 🤍 Thank you to @bubuogisi , this outfit was beyond my expectations. You made me look as mystical and powerful as I wanted to. Please, I never want to wear something else 🤍 Also thank you to @originecreative01 , who came to capture the whole show after we met during my last concert. The portrait pictures are from him, and the stage ones are from @neakcrg . Que Dieu bénisse la Côte d’Ivoire et son peuple. Lagô pamegnou 🖤

Tous les fonds collectés pendant cet événement seront reversés aux familles de Nahio!🤍🇨🇮 Une cagnotte sera mise en ligne pour ceux qui souhaitent participer.

[NEW SINGLE] Ah zouzou oh! out now everywhere. The making of this song has so much history, starting with @steven_amoikon_ percussions, to the feeling that I had writing this a year after releasing the first songs, to the land of Nahio and the crisis it went through right before shooting the visuals, the videos of our house I saw growing up before discovering it. this one is not soft, it feels like revolution, an internal one. The spirit of our ancestors are with us! go stream 🖤

[AH ZOUZOU OH!] out now 🖤 I’ve seen videos, and heard of Nahio my all childhood without ever touching its soil. This song was my initiation, the vocals at the beginning is my mom’s recommandation on how to enter the sacred land of my ancestors. It was my hommage to my loved ones burried in that ground, and the people that passed away or lost their house during the crisis is October. We filmed with victims of the event that took place after last elections, and in front of the houses that were destroy. A go fund me is set to help them rebuild their life. Will post it soon 🤍 CREDITS Lead Vocals: wordsofAzia Additional Vocals: Yao Rose Production: wordsofAzia Percussion: @steven_amoikon_ Double Bass: Keïna Etenor Mix & Mastering: @restlessatnight Director: @nonosdav Styling: wordsofAzia Wardrobe: @maisonlisapo , @thehybridestudio , @iftiin.studio Make-up: @oldiechristal Nails: @nailedbyines Dancers & Masks: Masque de Broma Scouting: Blé Beco Special Thanks: Mom, Landry le Canadien, Uncle Zokou Blé, the resident chief of Nahio Guihéoua Behi, and the entire community of the village of Grand Nahio, from the Fisherwoman, to the children. Dedication: Prayers for those who lost their lives during the killings, and for peace to come.

[NEW MUSIC FRIDAY] This video idea came to me after the last elections that took place in Ivory coast. Killings happened in my village « Nahio », Ivorians are very good at living together with all the diversity that carries all of our ethnic groups. But when it’s time for politics, things shift. I am singing in Bhété on an Abodan rhythm orchestrated by my friend @steven_amoikon_ . I think this captures the beauty of our country “Ah zouzou oh” out Friday! Link in bio 🤍🇨🇮

Went back home, for the first time in more than a year. And safe it say that it was healing. 🤍 Grateful for the time spent, the people I’ve met, everything. All Glory to The Most High.

SEHKEYOULOU - the music video is out now. [link in bio] This song came to me as a peace offering, after running after the Truth, God’s presence, Discipline and Perfection I felt while writing it like everything was already within. This song just express how grateful we can be to experience. No matter what we experience, living, learning and unlearning is such a precious gift. We are in the craziest time, and music truly is my way of feeling at peace and hopefully this song made you feel at peace too. I thank God for the gift of life, and thank you for sharing it with me. 🤍🤲🏽 This video was imagined and shot by @tetisulu 👁️📹 The outfit was put together by @odiiyo And the visual was edited by @matthewmatete The music was mixed and mastered by @restlessatnight Recorded and sang by mom and I Kora and percussions played by @kora_moussa The balafon was played by Donatien Koné And the Fula flute was played by Djeliba Le patriarche. Soldiers of the light ! 🤍🤲🏽

Abidjan! 🇨🇮 first show home wednesday 21 of January at @galeriececilefakhoury 🤍 cannot wait to meet you all. 🫂

[OUT NOW] Liwouho - the music video, link in bio. Grateful to have created this piece, in such a precious land. Thank you to @tetisulu for orchestrating and capturing this magical piece the way you did it. And thank you @odiiyo making me look this fly and adding your vision the way you did it 🤍 This piece looked the way it did thanks to community, many people participated in various ways. We cannot do anything alone. More than a visual, this was an experience. Glory to God. 🤲🏽 DIRECTOR & DOP : @tetisulu STYLIST : @odiiyo WARDROBE : @iamisigo , @sandylamu , @kapoetabyambica EDITOR : @matthewmatete COLORIST: @bafeink MIX/MASTER: @restlessatnight VOICES: Yao Rose, wordsofAzia GUITAR LEAD: wordsofAzia GUITAR SOLOS: @steven_amoikon_ PERCUSSIONS: @steven_amoikon_ Special thanks to Neema and her friends, @heart_tickla , Ali, Mota, Saleem , Sualeh, @abu.diyeki Omondi, Simbazee and everyone that participated in making this video possible.

🇨🇮 “Si ma mère n’est plus là, je n’ai plus de connexion directe avec la culture Bhété.” Après avoir grandi en France, Azia, artiste franco-ivoirienne, a décidé de se reconnecter à la culture Bhété et de se réapproprier son identité ivoirienne. De cette démarche naît @wordsofazia un projet musical où se rencontrent jazz et culture Bhété.