The intruder of the news gives each evening a spotlight on a personality who could have passed under the radars of the news.
You have to imagine the solemnity of the graduation ceremony a few days ago on the HEC campus. We are in Jouy-en-Josas, in a huge room. All graduates are in black toga, orange scarf with this very particular hat with four corners. Among them, the singer of the group Magic System, A’salfo, aka Salif Traoré. And that’s what happens when the presenter calls him on stage.
One can imagine the surprise of most students who were probably unaware that the singer of Magic System was training at HEC. Teachers from other sections too! It must also be said that Salif Traoré is 44 years old. It started at the time of the Covid. The tours of his group were stopped, he said to himself that it was time. In several stages, he passed tests which enabled him to join this “Master in management of a strategic unit”, he who, until then, had done very little studies. He was born in a popular district of Abidjan, in a family of eight. His father, a construction worker, cannot afford to send him to kindergarten. And when he arrives in primary school, he finds himself in classes of more than 100 students. Salif Traoré will still go to high school before really getting into music, with his brother Ali who is a guitarist.
The Magic System group was born the year of Salif’s 17th birthday. At the first concert, they are at least 30. The history of the name is quite tasty. They show up with T-shirts with the Maggie brand of soup recovered from the Abidjan marathon. We explain to them that they cannot keep this name because it is advertising. So they add this “c” which will give “Magic” and which brings them luck. The first hit will be “Premier Gaou” (1999) – a word he translates as “an idiot”.
Magic system is also a foundation today. And you will not be surprised that one of the main objects of this foundation is to build schools. The tenth is being built. Especially in this very working-class neighborhood where he grew up and which he got out of the rut by also setting up a music festival, the Festival des Musiques urbaines d’Anoumabo (Femua) from 2008.
What did he learn at HEC? Essentially management, to be able to manage cultural enterprises as well as possible. He is very keen that African artists continue to train. This makes him very proud of his four children. And what particularly moved him was that the day before he graduated from HEC, his daughter, Rebecca, who is 24, also graduated from her management school, IPAG.
This pride does not give him any more desire for politics than before. His action, he sees it above all in the social field. A commitment that has earned him many distinctions, he is notably cultural ambassador for reconciliation and the prize for excellence in the field of culture and living arts in Côte d’Ivoire. He has also been a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for ten years.
Currently, A’salfo is on tour with Magic System in France and Belgium. But the group is also writing the anthem for the African Cup of Nations football which will take place in early 2024 in Côte d’Ivoire.