It's understandable if you aren't aware of a place named Mayotte, and even if you've heard of it, it's forgivable if you kno...
It's understandable if you aren't aware of a place named Mayotte, and even if you've heard of it, it's forgivable if you know little about it. However, Zily (Amida Zily) is determined to change that.
Mayotte is a French territory situated in the Indian Ocean, nearly midway between Mozambique on the African continent and the island of Madagascar. It consists of a chain of small islands, encircled by coral reefs, with the largest one referred to as "La Grande-Terre," home to a population exceeding 320,000. The local inhabitants speak two native languages, and although French serves as the official language, it is essentially the second language for most people.
Zily started singing when she was seven years old, studying traditional music with her grandmother, and later receiving guidance from a former singer named Mantouria, who had a significant impact on her. At 16, following a radio performance, she became well-known across the islands and performed semi-professionally at weddings, which are highly ritualized and important events on Mayotte, featuring specific songs that are sung during these occasions. After nearly ten years of doing this, she joined the group Fleur d'Ylang in 2009, gaining even more recognition for her traditional music performances both on the islands and in France.
Subsequently, in 2021, she chose to leave the conventional music scene and launched "Tsika," a more contemporary song, which has received more than three million views, demonstrating her ability to thrive on a larger stage.
At the time, she told a local newspaper, "I'm aiming for a younger audience.... I'm attempting to shift my style but be cautious that I'm not entirely ceasing traditional songs.... Today, if we can listen to songs from all these countries in Mayotte, then I believe that [these countries] can listen to ours and discover the Mahorese language and our culture."
She established her own record label and released an EP in 2022, which marked the beginning of her presence at African music festivals and helped build the momentum needed to take her music global. This ambition to share the sounds of Mayotte with the world has resulted in her participating in a showcase at this year's WOMEX conference.
We met with Zily the day following her performance, which was a huge success with people expressing great enthusiasm afterward. Her manager, Mathieu Lhoste, served as the French interpreter. It's also worth mentioning that besides her music career, Zily runs her own clothing store on Mayotte and is currently taking care of six children. The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Ron Deutsch: What an amazing performance last night. How did you find it?
Zily: I truly enjoyed my performance yesterday as I could observe that everyone was extremely joyful, dancing, and radiating positive energy. And I want to express a lot of love, which holds significant importance for me.
At what point did you choose to begin singing, and when did you realize it was a path you wanted to pursue as a career?
I began singing at the age of seven in Muslim schools, following traditional methods. However, I only felt confident enough in 2021, when I was 37, to pursue a professional career. I hadn't considered becoming a professional singer for so long because in Mayotte, there are no female professional singers—only men. I realized that if I don't take this step, who will? Therefore, I am now the first woman to follow this path and the first to perform internationally from Mayotte.
Are you facing resistance from the men in Mayotte, or do you feel welcomed? Is it apparent that circumstances are evolving?
I'm experiencing both. However, this empowers me to advocate for women's rights. I remind myself that it's not a major issue, which helps me keep going. Yet, as a Muslim, this isn't truly accepted within the religion. As a woman, many people disagree with me on religious matters—however, there are also many, including some religious individuals, who support me because I spread love. I sing about love and share positive energy. But I never perform anything that goes against my Muslim values.
You spent many years performing at weddings and local events, but then you joined Fleur d'Ylang. Tell me about this group.
I became a member when I was 25. That's what we might refer to asmahoraismusic, "acoustic folklore" with vocal performances supported by bamboo instruments. During that period, there were very few female groups performing these traditional songs. This was traditionally music created by women from Mayotte, but it had been neglected, although a few other female ensembles continued to play it at the time. That is what I wanted to perform, so I joined this group to reclaim this music and bring it back to life. It turned out to be a great success. Through these efforts, we revived authentic traditional songs, and the younger generation took over. Today, there are more than 60 such bands.
What do you mean when you say it was left behind?
As I mentioned earlier, this genre was typically associated with women. However, men entered the scene with electric instruments and brought it into the modern era. These men formed bands and chose not to include women. This occurred around 1995. By 2000, it had evolved into party music. They modified it, keeping the original acoustic tunes, but exclusively for male performers.
Did you learn this song from your grandmother?
My grandmother taught me debaamusic, which is more associated with Muslim religious traditions. However, it was through a woman, Mantouria, one of the renowned singers ofmbiwi, who guided and motivated me towards traditional music.
So in Fleur d'Ylang, were you singing both mbiwi and debaa, or just one of them?
When I perform traditional songs, I either sing debaa or mbiwi, but in my own contemporary music, I combine them.
So at the concert last night, for instance, how would I tell apart the debaa or mbiwi sounds?
Dabaa features an Arabic vibrato, while mbiwi is more melodic and lacks the vibrato, giving it a more African feel.
And this musical blend is somewhat of an ideal way to comprehend the people of Mayotte, as you are a mixture of African and Arab.
Yes. Exactly.
Please share more information about the people of Mayotte.
I would describe them as individuals with radiant energy and noble hearts. The people are extremely warm and genuinely sincere. It's important to note that in Mayotte, women hold a prominent position. It is a society where women are highly respected, and they often take on significant responsibilities. The women are proud, attractive, and graceful. They are not timid and display a great deal of confidence. Additionally, Mayotte is known for its stunning landscapes and a strong sense of community, as everything is quite compact. Life is embraced fully by the locals.
However, at the same time, women were not permitted to become professional musicians?
Although it is a society that is matriarchal in culture and social structure, women do not participate in politics. Only men are involved. However, I believe that thanks to me and other women from my generation, many young women are beginning to create modern music and can aspire to become singers. Nevertheless, there is no professional music industry in Mayotte.
It was quite challenging for me. We have a saying in our native tongue: "When you see a wave, you see an exit." Before I established my own label, I began creating and selling these personalized wedding songs. I introduced them through friends who invited me and placed orders for these songs. This is a tradition that dates back a hundred years. Thus, this is how I managed to raise funds to set up a home studio, which enabled me to support my international projects. However, I also view it as carving a trail for other women from Mayotte to follow.
So what was the journey leading up to WOMEX?
Well, it's all thanks to Mathieu, who is my childhood friend. We first met in fifth grade, but later we lost contact. He went to study in France. However, now that we're adults, we got back in touch. I was really happy to see him again. One day, he came to my clothing store— I own a store where I sell clothes — and I asked him, "Mathieu, would you like to be my manager? Because I want to start my career." Neither of us had any knowledge about the music industry, but we learned together. And we grew up once more, this time in the music business, side by side. In 2021, we released our first EP, which took us to the Visa for Music Festival in Morocco, leading to more and more music festivals across Africa.
Do you currently have a complete album, or just an EP?
I own many albums of traditional music, but for the time being, only the EP and a few singles of modern music are available. However, we plan to release a full album of modern music that we recorded in France next spring.
And all the music is under your own label, Yeka?
In fact, there are two labels: Yeka is dedicated to local music, while the other focuses on modern, international music.
So what's next?
Well, this is merely the start of the tale. I aspire to perform on global stages, not only to be present there but to represent the people of Mayotte, to introduce our music and traditions. My dream is that one day, everyone will know where Mayotte is located. I wish to serve as a musical envoy for Mayotte. Above all, it's a deeply personal matter for me.
Is there anything you'd like to discuss that we haven't covered?
If I had a message, I would share that the women from Mayotte are present and we are eager to explore the world. Additionally, we face numerous challenges in today's world, both personal and global. Throughout history, music has served as a universal language. In my view, music is a tool rather than an end in itself. It is a way to convey love, peace, respect, and unity to everyone across the globe. Music is one of the few methods capable of addressing these issues, and it is this power of music that I wish to highlight as a solution to our problems.
We can merely wish. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
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