His grandfather was a militant freedom fighter, his father a sharpshooter: Joel Windtoin Sawadogo aka Joey Le Soldat, however, chose words before weapons in his battles. He studied contemporary languages, but the records of Wu Tang Clan, IAM and NTM brought home by his older brother were his true passion. He wrote his rhymes in school notebooks, in mòoré, one of Burkina Faso’s main languages. He started rapping with friends in the streets of Ouagadougou, the city where he still lives. In 2013 he released his album debut and simultaneously founded the group WAGA 3000 with French producer Dj Form and Burkinabe rapper Art Melody. During the same period, Joey Le Soldat became an ambassador for the local battle against the American agricultural giant Monsanto. Since then, he has participated in SVT’s African music series Fonko and released the new album Barka. The tracks pulsate with 90’s hip hop and samples from traditional music, a heavy mix by producers Redrum and – again – DJ Form. Joey Le Soldat’s dark voice raps about young revolutionaries in Jeunesse and about wounds from the colonial history of the homeland in a duet with rapper Anny Kassy. It’s an album that clearly places Joey Le Soldat among Africa’s most exciting hip-hop artists.