France’s biggest music star has been subjected to “racist attacks” over reports she was considering performing an Edith Piaf song at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony in July.
Aya Nakamura, the French-Malian singer, had reportedly discussed the performance with President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace last month, according to Le Monde.
The unconfirmed report has “sparked an almighty row in France about identity and language”, said the BBC. Some have argued that Nakamura’s music “owes more to Africa and the United States than it does to France”, and the Paris Olympics organising committee said it was “shocked by the racist attacks” on the singer.
There has also been a “vitriolic response from members of France’s ascendant far right”, said France24. French police said they are investigating the “onslaught of racist venom”, said NBC News.
The background
Nakamura, 28, is the “world’s most popular French-speaking artist”, said Le Monde, with more than 1 billion views of the YouTube video of her 2018 hit “Djadja”. Born in Bamako, the capital of former French colony Mali, Nakamura (who was born Aya Danioko) moved to Paris as a baby and is a French citizen.
She is a “rare” example of an artist whose music reaches “well beyond the Francophone world”, said France24. Music critics argue that her global reach surpasses all other French female singers, even Piaf. “On paper, tapping her for the curtain-raiser of ‘the biggest show on earth’ is a no-brainer.”
Nakamura is also the “proud face of the neglected banlieues (suburbs) of Paris”, which have produced many of France’s best-known music and sports stars – and which the Paris Olympics have explicitly promised to showcase.
But the singer has faced criticism from the far right for the “liberties she takes with the French language using the familiar argot of hip-hop”, said The Telegraph. Her lyrics mix French with slang and words from other languages.
The singer told Agence France-Presse (AFP) she understood why some people accused her of “mocking” French speakers, but added that it is important to understand other cultures, especially considering that she claims two: Malian and French.
The latest
Claims by right-wing politicians and pundits that Nakamura is “not French enough” to perform at the Olympics have exposed “deep faultlines of racism and class prejudice that threaten to cast a shadow over the Games”, said The Guardian.
“Like her or not, the fact is – this singer doesn’t sing in French,” said far-right politician Marion Maréchal (niece of Marine Le Pen), vice-president of the nationalist Reconquest party. “[Nakamura] does not represent the French language,” she said in a television interview.
The crowd at a recent Reconquest campaign rally – the party is led by far-right ex-presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, who has previously been convicted of inciting racial hatred – booed Nakamura’s name. A small far-right extremist group, Les Natifs (The Natives), hung a banner by the River Seine reading: “There’s no way Aya; this is Paris, not the Bamako Market.”
The singer responded on X: “You may be racist but you’re not deaf. That’s what hurts you. I’m becoming the number 1 state subject in debates ect [sic], but what do I really owe you? Nada.”
A complaint has since been filed by the France-based International League against Racism and Antisemitism, triggering an investigation by the Paris prosecutor into alleged racist abuse.
The reaction
Ministers, musicians and cultural critics “rushed to Nakamura’s defence”, accusing detractors of rejecting her because of her African heritage, said the BBC. “We are very shocked by the racist attacks against Aya Nakamura,” said the Paris Olympics organising committee.
Antoine Léaument, an MP from the left-wing France Unbowed party, said Les Natifs “claim to love their country”, but “want to exclude the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world” since Piaf. “We cannot be both racist and patriotic in France,” he added. “Beware of pretexts for using pure racism to attack someone,” said French culture minister Rachida Dati.
The backlash has shown how important it would be to have Nakamura perform at the opening ceremony, Carole Boinet, from culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles, told AFP. The singer has “invented” a new language and France “should be proud” to have her represent the nation on a global stage.
“It’s a controversy that comes from the backward side of France but it’s not them who will decide,” Boinet said. “I hope she will sing at the Olympics – it has become imperative.”