Quick Facts:

Kalam is a Pan-African singer-songwriter, composer and performer of Burkinabè origin. She is known for exploring the potential of traditional instruments to create haunting melodies and rhythmic patterns that reflect local Moaga culture and urban sounds.

As a child she was not allowed to go to school and later as a teenager she escaped a forced marriage. As a young adult, she returned to her childhood passion, dance. She gave up this practice a few years later due to a knee problem and instead devoted herself to the sister of dance, music. Since 2017, she has been known simply as Kalam.

Kalam is the embodiment of female bravery with a unique artistic approach. Her virtuosity, powerful melodies and charismatic voice have opened up the stages for her. She is one of the few women who publicly play the kundé, a traditional 3-string Moaga guitar, on stage. She also plays the kalambatt, an experimental instrument in the shape of a calabash with pedal, designed and conceived by the artist.

Kalam's practice is defined by five distinctive features: the kundé, the kalambatt, her veiled face, her voice and her commitment to society.

With two albums released, she looks to the future with promise.