With a long career stretching from the late 70s to today, Alpha Blondy is releasing a new best-of, due out on 2 December.
It naturally features Alpha Blondy's most emblematic tracks: Brigadier Sabari (Opération Coup De Poing), his first international hit, but also Jerusalem, from the album of the same name recorded in Jamaica with the Wailers, Massada, Sweet Fanta Diallo and Cocody Rock.
The best of gives pride of place to covers, such as the reggae version of Travailler c'est trop dur, and of Pink Floyd's Wish you were here (with bagpipes!), as well as the French version of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff, renamed J'ai tué le commissaire.
It also includes more recent songs, such as Rasta Bourgeois (from the album "Vision") or Hope, his combination with Beenie Man (from the album "Mystic Power"). A rare track completes this best of: Alpha Blondy's duet with UB40, Young Guns, previously released but no longer available.
In all, this new compilation of the Ivorian artist's songs (the third) gathers 22 tracks over 2 CDs. It takes all that to sketch the outlines of an exemplary career, between activism, humanism and spirituality.