Alif Naaba (Burkina Faso)

Burkina Faso singer-songwriter, Alif Naaba, is nicknamed “The Barefoot Prince” because of his preference for performing without shoes and his family’s royal heritage. Naaba incorporates jazz, pop, and the traditional music of his Mossi culture to create an accessible Afro-Folk sound.  Born in 1982, he was immersed in traditional music through the folk melodies hummed by his singer-songwriter mother. He has toured across Africa, Europe and Asia and released 5 albums over the past 15 years. Now living in Ouagadougou, Naaba initiated the development of the Paongo cultural center in 2015, a venue dedicated to promoting the arts of West Africa.

Featured Song:

“Koom Kaye” (When Will the Rains Come?) is the closing track of Naaba’s album So Wok (2021), sung in Mooré, the language of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso. The title phrase carries particular weight in the Sahel, where rainfall is not a given but a matter of survival, and the song weaves together themes of hardship, resilience, and community. “I have life / I have known good times and bad / I have known joy and sorrow / The time has come to stop and reflect / The year comes and goes / We gather here together / Our year does not end in vain.”

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