For more than twenty years, Matthieu Chedid has nurtured a close relationship with Africa, enriched by artistic encounters and travels. A lover of collaboration, he has found among Malian artists a natural echo to his artistic ethos, rooted in sharing and collective creativity. This is how the idea of a collective uniting African and Western artists around a musical dialogue emerged: Lamomali. The project led in 2017 to a first, self-titled album. Carried by the crystalline voice of Fatoumata Diawara and inhabited by the kora playing of Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté, it drew a radiant bridge between Mandinka traditions and modern pop.
Lamomali Totem takes this project further. Released in the spring of 2025, the album is conceived as a more introspective chapter, marked by Toumani’s passing and by a Malian and international context deeply shaken in recent years. More meditative than its predecessor, Totem offers twelve tracks that celebrate the kora while exploring its sacred dimension. Chedid speaks of it as a “sonic talisman”: a work that seeks to connect visible and invisible worlds, ancestral resonance and modern invention. Totem is not simply a sequel — it is a powerful reaffirmation of artistic friendship and a deeply personal attachment to Mandinka culture.
A Collective Musical Adventure
Lamomali’s DNA is unmistakably collective. Totem gathers a constellation of artists, including major figures of the Malian scene as well as international guests. Each brings a unique tone, form of writing, or energy.
At the heart of the project, the Diabaté family remains a pillar. The memory of Toumani permeates the entire album: the tribute is explicit, with the kora taking center stage in every arrangement. His son Sidiki, direct heir to the family’s art, was present from the earliest sessions and gives the tracks a more contemporary direction. Fatoumata Diawara, featured since the first opus, returns with that vocal power capable of making Mandinka tradition and modern sensibilities converse. Amadou & Mariam also appear, their signature blend of blues, rock, and world music bringing an immediate warmth to the tracks.
Around this core, other voices broaden the album’s horizon. Oxmo Puccino unfolds his poetic spoken word across several tracks, his literary depth blending beautifully with the hypnotic aura of the kora. Angélique Kidjo’s radiant voice lights up Le Peuple qui danse, where West and Central Africa meet in a celebration of life. Brazilian artist Seu Jorge weaves subtle links between Brazilian influences and Mandinka rhythms, while Ibrahim Maalouf’s trumpet adds an airy touch to the arrangements.
Lamomali Totem
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In this way, Totem becomes a crossroads where musical identities meet without dissolving. M plays the role of mediator, catalyzing energies and orchestrating dialogues without venturing into appropriation. The album breathes a palpable collective joy: the pleasure artists find in intertwining their notes in unexpected combinations infuses every track.
The Kora: Spiritual and Musical Backbone
While the collective dynamic gives the project its vitality, the arrangements shape the deeper signature of Totem. The musical innovation lies in the finely crafted balance between instruments.
The album gives the kora an even more central role than in the first opus. It structures, drives, and adorns each track. Its repetitive, organic motifs create a harmonic ground on which the other instruments can unfold. The guitar adds color; Mandinka percussion — sabar, djembe, calabash — installs the pulse; the voices weave the space. This sound architecture evokes major Afro-Western fusions while adding a contemporary dimension: stripped-down production, subtle electronic textures, and a spacious, luminous mix.
Beyond its structural role, the kora carries a spiritual dimension. In Mandinka tradition, it is an instrument of wisdom and a vessel of memory. M refers to it as a “celestial harp.” In Totem, its presence creates an atmosphere of contemplation. Some tracks take the form of prayers or modernized incantations.
This is especially true of Ama Kora, a centerpiece of the album and an explicit homage to Toumani Diabaté. Conceived as an offering, the track places the kora at the forefront and quite literally lets it speak. The structure is stripped down, almost ascetic: the instrument becomes a character, a voice, a presence.
Beyond the Album: A Living Community
Totem is not just an album — it is a human adventure that extends far beyond the studio. This spirit takes shape notably through the participatory and unprecedented music video imagined for the title track Totem. Thanks to a custom-designed augmented-reality Lens created by Snapchat — a world first — each listener can combine their face (front camera) with their surroundings (rear camera) to create their own unique animated totem avatar. Contributions from fans worldwide were integrated into the final video, transforming it into a collective artwork. The gesture is symbolic: placing the community at the very heart of the creation.
In parallel, Totem is supported by a major 2025 tour, mixing concerts and festival appearances through the end of the year. Onstage, M reconnects with the collective energy that shaped the soul of the first Lamomali. The concerts become genuine musical ceremonies, where kora, voices, and guitars respond to one another in a vibrant celebration of cultures.
Through Totem, M offers more than an album: a journey, a gesture of loyalty to Mali, an ongoing conversation between modernity and tradition. A bridge-work, rare in today’s musical landscape, that brings worlds into dialogue rather than pitting them against one another.
