During man years, NATTY JEAN, ploughed through the hip hop scene in Dakar, where he participated on compilations under the standards of various musical collectives. Initially he launched on the traces of his elders (PBS, Pee Froiss, Daraa J) like himself resulting from the city district of sicaps, he opened up to new musical horizons, starts to mix rap with African influences, Jamaican and American.
It was in 2007 that NATTY JEAN decided to retreat from his homeland for his art to take him to Mali.
Very quickly, his polyvalent and original style became noticed in the Malian capital where the emerging reggae/hip hop scene was in effervescence. Manjul, a well known reggae producer known for his series of albums Dub to Mali and the production of discs for Takana Zion, Bishop etc…, he made no mistake in deciding to record the tracks for NATTY JEAN, SANTA YALLA.
This album gives NATTY JEAN the occasion to show us the extent of his talent connecting riddims roots, acoustic tracks with background traditional instruments, dancehall given rhythms. All along this albums rich contents, in emotion and musical diversity, he make his testament from a generation of young Africans who privilege a positive approach with the hope of a better future. Most of the lyrics sung in wolof, english and french, gives us a panoramic view of west-african youth, their preoccupations, their dreams, and their opening on the world, a far cry from miserabilist stereotypes to often portrayed in the Western countries.
Located by the Danakil collective when they were recording their last album in Bamako, NATTY JEAN was invited to put his voice on two tracks on the new opus from the parisien group. The collaboration continues when NATTY takes part in the Echos du Temps tour in the spring and during the summer 2011, untill he in systematic fashion makes his place under the wing of the collective.
The album SANTA YALLA marks the begining of this promising artists solo career and a certain revival of the African reggae scene.
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