“I’m heading for the future with African heritage,” she told TV5 Monde early in 2019, speaking of her album Barokan. The result is a bold, critically acclaimed production in which Mandinka traditions and desert blues billow pleasingly beneath a fascinating synthetic breeze. This Montréal-based griot, with her magnificent and powerful voice, is a convinced feminist; the 11 songs of Barokan, performed in the Mandinka, Bambara and Kassonke languages, pay tribute to the strength of African women and to youth, together with calls for the protection of water resources.

Djely Tapa was named Révélation Radio-Canada in world music in 2019, received the Juno for Best world music album in 2020 for Barokan, and the Prix Opus for Inclusion and diversity offered by Conseil Québécois de la musique in 2021.