Takana Zion ADD
Concert Review: Takana Zion & Friends in Paris @ L'Olympia 2025
06/20/2025 by Gardy Stein
Mission #SOLDOUT! With this rallying cry, the concert of Guinean artist Takana Zion has been promoted for the last few months, and weeks before the actual event, that mission was fulfilled. In a time when even established reggae artists struggle to draw enough visitors in any given city, that’s an impressive feat and speaks for the enormous reach of this singer, who can be considered Africa’s most well-known reggae celebrity alongside Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly and the late Lucky Dube. Last Saturday, fans from near and far have made their way to the great Olympia Music Hall in Paris to attend this special event organized by Soulbeats Music, and Reggaeville was there to tell you all about it!
Excitement builds up slowly when more and more people arrive, many of them wearing Guinea’s national colors, some even a flag or T-shirts printed especially for this show. At 8:30pm, moderator Kevin First welcomes us, intoning Takana’s song Conakry and making it clear that this evening belongs to Guinea and its people. He then announces the first supporting act, Oudy 1er, with the words “Make sure your belts are buckled well!”, and we find out why right away: the Guinean artist comes with two dancers, who perform an amazing choreo to the coupé-decalé-influenced music a DJ fires off. Niceness!
Fire is a word that describes well what happens when the next artist enters stage. Fish Killa was added to the line-up only recently, and many of those present appreciate this to the maxxx. They sing along word by word, so much so that the artist stops singing and listens to the crowd, nodding approvingly. He is a powerful performer, showering us with sizzling hot Guinean dancehall vibes together with Black M and a dancer, and before he leaves, he starts to sing Takana’s song Mikhie Kobie, which the crowd loudly picks up and continues. Vibes!
Senegalese rapper Xuman inhabits the stage for the subsequent three songs, and another special guest from Guadeloupe ends this first part of the night. Tiwony gracefully bridges the time the DJ needs to find his backing tracks by improvising an acapella nyabinghi chant with the crowd. Real artist! He then performs the title track of his album Frequency, and when he finishes his short set, the moderator announces a 30-minute changeover break.
At 10pm, the program continues with an expression of gratitude, thanking the organizers, the media, the security, the musicians and everybody else involved in the preparation of this event. Special mention deserves the presence of several Guinean officials: Mr. Moussa Moïse Sylla is there, Guinean Minister of Arts, Culture & Tourism, together with his colleague, Mrs. Rose Pola Pricemou (from the Ministry of Telecommunications) – further proof of the importance of this night! TS continues by telling the members of the diaspora, “To those of you who have left Guinea many years ago, you should come back and see how beautifully our country has developed. Guinea is really a paradise, so much has changed!” To stress this last point, he asks the DJ to play the song La Guinée Mon Paradis which has become an anthem of sorts, and it is enthusiastically sang along to by the audience. He then passes the mic to some random people in the crowd, one of whom sings Rasta Government, and now it is time to welcome the originator of this song on stage, introduced by Thierno Salma aka TS: Takana Zion!
To a dramatic intro, he greets the audience, then delivering the songs Trod (a taste from the upcoming album Few Words) and Zion Prophet to a powerful instrumental backing. While many of the accompanying musicians have worked with Takana before, this constellation is unique: next to “the Conakry crew” Jason (drums), Rico (sax), Ben (keys), Djé (trombone), Maka Lox (guit) and Naomi (backings), tonight we also heard Pierre on trumpet, Alex on guitar, Nathan on bass, Mikey on percussion, King Johnson on keys and Elodie on backing vocals. Sound engineer Louis Tintin has the difficult task to make sure all those instruments come together in harmony, especially challenging in the beginning, since “the people sang louder than the band, so I couldn’t hear the musicians”, as he told us after the show. Well, to me it sounds just perfect – big respect to you all!
The show continues with well-known songs like Humble Lion, Good Life and Rasta Government, and after an hour or so, two fans suddenly climb the stage to hug their idol. They are quickly caught and removed, but Takana addresses them in Soso, thanking them for their support over the years. “Rise up, mighty race!” he then sings, talking to his brothers and sisters present, and he even plays a djembe drum solo, showing that he is singer and instrumentalist both. In the break after delivering above-mentioned Conakry, the crowd loudly shouts “Samson sana”, a quote from another well-loved song, and the artist obliges with an acapella freestyle to which the audience goes mad and shouts along, word for word. This vibe is continued with Foula Mousso, and during the subsequent Punani-riddim medley, dancer Eva Lova (of the crew Ngage For Dance) mashes up the stage together with Takana. He now introduces kora player Kandia Kora for the songs Koue Na So and the beautiful Sekou Ko Non, before which he thanks the ministers for their presence, as well as the guest singers and his Black Mafia crew, many of which surround him on stage.
In a final flourish, Takana brings all his guests out again, and for a few minutes, a creative chaos sweeps the stage. Madness! Next to the “official” supporting acts Tiwony, Fish Killa, Oudy 1er and Xuman, who share the mic around, there are a few surprises, too: Mousby, Baara.k Alkebulan and Little Guerrier, who has recently published the song King Selassie together with Takana. The Mangana takes back the mic after each of these artists chatted a few bars to frantic reactions from the crowd and finishes the show with his signature tune Real Black Man.
This evening was a memorable one indeed. A little country from the West African coast has shown what giant steps can be taken when vision, determination, passion and talent meet. Mission L’Olympia #SOLDOUT complete!
Check the photo report here!
