Aya Nakamura


Aya Nakamura Danioko, known by her stage name Aya Nakamura, is a Malian-born French pop singer. She is best known for her hit song "Djadja" that has more than half a billion views on YouTube.
She was born in Bamako and immigrated to France with her family, growing up in Aulnay-sous-Bois. Coming from a family of griots, she is the oldest of five siblings. She studied fashion at La Courneuve. She later launched into music with the stage name Aya Nakamura, after the character Hiro Nakamura of the NBC Heroes science fiction drama series.
Nakamura published her music online, gaining a following with "Karma" and "J'ai mal". Dembo Camara, a long-time friend, became her producer and manager. Notably, her song "Brisé", composed by Christopher Ghenda, garnered 13 million views on YouTube, and a duo with rapper Fababy "Love d'un voyou" resulted in her charting in France. She released her debut album with a number of collaborations. She also had a big concert at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, where she opened for the Nigerian star Davido.

Biography

Childhood and youth

Born Aya Danioko in Bamako, Mali on May 10, 1995 from a family of griot she is the oldest of five siblings. At an early age, her family came to France and moved to Paris Northern suburbs in :simple:Aulnay-sous-Bois|Aulnay-sous-Bois. She took the name Nakamura after the character Hiro Nakamura of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes.

2014-2017: Debut and first success with Journal intime

In 2014, at the age of 19, she released her first single Karma on Facebook. With the help of the producer :fr:Seysey|Seysey, she composed a break-up song, J’ai mal, with a zouk type of melody. The song's video reached more than 1 million YouTube views by that time. An old time friend, Dembo Camara, became her producer and artistic agent.
In 2015, she made the song Brisé with the composer , and the video clip reached 13 M YouTube views. Then she released another song :fr:Love d'un voyou|Love d’un Voyou, featuring the rapper Fababy and it received even more support on YouTube.
As a tribute to her cultural heritage and roots, she did a concert at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, opening for the American-Nigerian star Davido. And she dedicated a song to one of the most famous Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, who was born in Bamako just like her.
In January 2016, the singer signed a deal with Rec. 118, a label from Warner music France. During the same year, she kept on doing collaborations and she released her second single Super Héros, featuring the rapper Gradur.
On August 25, 2017 she released her debut album named :fr:Journal intime |Journal Intime, led by her first Platinum hit, :fr:Comportement |‘Comportement’.  
The album was . On September 23, 2017, she participated to La Nuit du Mali in Bercy organized by the Wati-Boss, Dawala in order to celebrate the Independence Day of Mali in Paris. She shared the stage with Oumou Sangaré and other Malian artists such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Lassana Hawa or Mokobé among others.

2018: ''Nakamura''

On April 6, 2018, Aya Nakamura released Djadja -  the first extract of her sophomore album - which stayed 2 consecutive weeks at #1 French single charts and was later certified Diamond.
The song quickly became a summer hit in France and soon became an international hit. She became the first French female artist #1 in the Netherlands since Edith Piaf with "Non je ne regrette rien" in 1961.
Djadja was also the first Francophone song since 2009 to reach the n°1 position in the Dutch charts, the last one being Alors on danse from Belgian artist Stromaé.
Djadja then conquered charts and radios all over Europe
The following single :fr:Copines|Copines released in August 2018 entered #4 in French single charts before climbing to #1 in November 2018, and is also certified Diamond.
On November 2, 2018, Aya Nakamura released her sophomore album :fr:Nakamura FR|Nakamura. She became the first female artist to charts 7 album tracks in the French top 10 single simultaneously.
Nakamura prompted her second #1 single, Copines.
In January 2019 she won the for Best Urban album.
In February 2019 she is Nominee for Song of the Year & Best Urban Album at :fr:Victoires de la musique|France Music Awards
In April 2019, she released the video for :fr:Pookie |Pookie, which became the most viewed French video in 2019. It has gained over 150 Million views to date while the song became her third Diamond-certified single.
Those heralded her first sold-out headline tour starting March 2019, including an Olympia Paris Hall sold out in less than 2 hours, followed by a Zenith tour in the Fall 2019.
In May 2019, she was portrayed by the New York Times, as “one of the most important act in Europe now, musically and socially”.
In June 2019, she earned her first nomination at BET Awards 2019 as Best International Act, and crossed the 1 Billion YouTube channel views.
In Summer 2019 she gains momentum with a new international smash Pookie,
including high-profile international versions with multi-platinum rapstars :it:Capo Plaza|Capo Plaza and Lil Pump.
In August her YouTube channel becomes the most viewed ever for a French female artist.
In September 2019, Djadja rise back again at #25 in Shazam worldwide charts, and Top 10 in Shazam Spain and Latin America, while Pookie enters Shazam worldwide charts at #80
She thus locks 2 tracks in Shazam Global 100 simultaneously.
In October, Djadja goes Platinum in Spain and Portugal while Pookie goes double Platinum in Italy.
On October 25, 2019, Aya Nakamura released a re-issue of the now 2xPlatinum ‘Nakamura’ with five new songs, including the Top 5 single ‘40%’.
In December year-end recaps,  she was named Most Watched French female artist in 2019 by YouTube, and Most Streamed French female artist in 2019 by Spotify.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Featured in

Awards and nominations