Aya Nakamura (4/5): Aya before Nakamura

Already recognized in France and beyond, the singer's fame exploded after the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. A look back at the beginnings of a young Malian woman from Seine-Saint-Denis who became an international star.

Before embarking on a singing career, Aya Nakamura hesitated. She first studied fashion, "but I stopped enjoying it, so I sang," she says. It must be said that music has always been a part of her life, since her mother is descended from a line of griots, these traditional African storytellers and poets, who transmit the culture and history of their country through songs. "It's passed down from family to family, you're born a griot in fact," says the young woman.

“When I was little, I always watched my mother sing, creating her magical melodies, going high and low, incredible flows!”

Born in Bamako, Mali, on May 10, 1995, her family quickly moved to Aulnay-sous-Bois, France. Aya applied for French citizenship in 2017 and obtained it four years later. Very discreet about her childhood, she recently revealed that she was taken away from her parents and placed in a foster home due to a very complicated relationship with her father.

It was at the age of 19, in 2014, that she published one of her creations for the first time on Facebook. She signed "Nakamura", a name borrowed from a character from her favorite series, Heroes , who has the power to travel through space and time. And one day, one of her works exceeded a million views on YouTube. "The next day, I saw lots of shares, lots of likes, I was scared," she says, expressing her disbelief before realizing that people simply liked her music.

Her first real hit came a few weeks later, Comportement . "I think that's when I really started to say to myself, 'I'm a singer and not just a girl who makes music,'" she confides. She was then spotted by Warner Music, hid the fact that she was pregnant to get signed, and her album was released a year later, in 2017. Journal intime was certified gold in France.