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Aya Coco Danioko (born 10 May 1995), known professionally as Aya Nakamura, is a Malian-born French singer-songwriter. She began publishing her music online, gaining a following with the songs "Karma" and "J'ai mal". Dembo Camara, a longtime friend, became her producer and manager. Her song "Brisé" garnered traction on YouTube, and a duet with rapper Fababy, "Love d'un voyou", resulted in her charting in France for the first time. She released her debut album, Journal intime, in 2017, followed in 2018 by Nakamura, which was certified diamond in France and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. The album spawned the hit singles "Djadja" and "Copines" and launched the singer's international career. The same year, she beat the record held by Édith Piaf since 1961 as the most-listened-to French-speaking female artist in the Netherlands.
Throughout her career, Nakamura has accumulated five number-one songs and a number-one album in France. She was awarded a Victoires de la Musique award for her 2020 album, Aya, which was certified double platinum in 2023, having sold 200,000 copies. She also won an NRJ Music Award and received multiple nominations for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Act. Two years after its release, Nakamura surpassed a billion streams on Spotify, making the singer the most-listened-to French-language female artist on the platform.
In February 2023, she became Lancôme's international beauty muse.
On 23 February 2025, the video for Nakamura's single "Djadja" became the fourth French-language song to surpass one billion views on YouTube, behind Indila's "Dernière Danse", Stromae's "Papaoutai", and Willy William's "Ego". She is the first African musician to have a video with over one billion views, and she is the fastest French-speaking artist to reach this milestone in six years.
Danioko studied fashion in La Courneuve. In a 2017 interview with Le Monde, she stated, "I wanted to be a fashion designer, but that stopped appealing to me, so I sang". She later launched into music under the stage name Aya Nakamura, after the character Hiro Nakamura of the American science fiction TV drama Heroes.
In 2016, she made the song "Brisé" with composer Christopher Ghenda. She followed it with "Love d'un Voyou", featuring rapper Fababy. She performed at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, opening for American-Nigerian star Davido.
In January 2016, she signed a deal with Rec. 118 and Parlophone, a subsidiary of Warner Music France. The same year, she released the single "Super Héros", featuring rapper Gradur.
On 25 August 2017, she released her debut album, Journal intime, led by her first platinum hit, "Comportement". The record was certified platinum in France. On 23 September 2017, she participated in La Nuit du Mali at Accor Arena, in order to celebrate Malian Independence Day. She shared the stage with Oumou Sangaré and other Malian artists, such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Lassana Hawa, and Mokobé.
The song became a hit in France as well as internationally. Nakamura became the first French female artist to reach number one in the Netherlands since Édith Piaf with "Non, je ne regrette rien", in 1961.
"Djadja" was also the first Francophone song since 2009 to reach the top of the Dutch charts, the last one being "Alors on danse" by Belgian artist Stromae. "Djadja" then conquered charts and radios all over Europe.
Nakamura's next single was "Copines", released in August 2018. It entered at number four in France before climbing to number one in November 2018 and was also certified Diamond.
On 2 November 2018, Nakamura released her second album, Nakamura.
In January 2019, she won the European Music Moves Talent Award for Best Urban album.
In February 2019, she was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Urban Album at the France Music Awards.
In April 2019, she released the video for "Pookie", which became the most-viewed French music video that year. In August, she issued a remix of the song, featuring American rapper Lil Pump.
In May 2019, she was portrayed by The New York Times as "one of the most important acts in Europe now, musically and socially".
In June 2019, she earned her first nomination at the BET Awards as Best International Act.
In October, "Djadja" went Platinum in Spain and Portugal, while "Pookie" was certified double Platinum in Italy.
On 25 October 2019, Nakamura released a re-issue of the now double Platinum Nakamura, with five new songs, including the top-five single "40%".
In the December year-end recaps, she was named Most Watched French female artist in 2019 by YouTube and Most Streamed French female artist in 2019 by Spotify.
On 3 January 2020, she was announced to be perform at that year's Coachella Festival.
On 12 June, Nakamura released a Spanish-language version of "Djadja", with Colombian singer Maluma.
On 9 October, she issued the second single from the album, "Doudou". It peaked at number 6 in France, in the top 40 in Belgium, and number 16 on the UK Afrobeats chart.
Aya came out on 13 November and included collaborations with Stormzy, Ms Banks, and Oboy.
On 26 March 2021, Major Lazer released a deluxe edition of their album Music Is the Weapon containing the song "C'est cuit", which features Nakamura and Swae Lee. This was followed on 27 May by the non-album single "Bobo", which peaked at number three on the French singles chart. Nakamura was also featured on French rapper Franglish's song "Sans moi", from his album Vibe. It was released as a single in August, and its music video reached one million views in 24 hours. Nakamura's image on the cover of Vogue France was chosen as the favourite magazine cover of 2021.
On 25 January 2024, she issued the single "Hypé". It was followed on 7 March by a remix in collaboration with Ayra Starr. At the second edition of the in April 2024, she won three awards, the most wins of that year. Following the releases of "Doggy", "Si Si" (with Morad), and "42", as well as her appearance alongside rappers SDM and SCH as a judge on the third season of Nouvelle École (France's equivalent of Rhythm + Flow), on 26 July 2024, she performed at the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The performance created a viral sensation on social media, with especially her mashup of "Pookie" and Charles Aznavour's "For Me… Formidable" trending both within and outside of France..
In February 2025, she released the single "Chimiyé".
Nakamura is also known for her "boastful" and "unapologetic" persona, which has been compared to that of artists such as Rihanna and Cardi B. This has earned her accusations of being haughty, which she countered with "I see it as confidence". Rokhaya Diallo wrote in The Guardian that her persona "may be why she draws such a hostile reaction in a country that tends to demand humility and gratitude from minorities". Conversely, she has been described as a symbol of empowerment, particularly for black women. Malian singer Oumou Sangaré has praised the way that Nakamura "built a name for herself in a male-dominated world" and considers her an inspiration for young people, while French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, who has worked with Nakamura, views her as representative of her generation, "whether ... men or women, black or not". Her song "Djadja" has frequently been quoted in demonstrations against sexist violence in France. Although she does not view her work as feminist, she has said that she is "happy if her songs speak for themselves".
On 15 March, an investigation into racist online posts towards Nakamura was opened following complaints filed by the LICRA and SOS Racisme. Nakamura herself responded to the backlash with a social media post stating, "You can be racist but not deaf... That's what hurts you! I'm becoming a number 1 state subject in debates... but what do I really owe you? Nada." This was followed by another post thanking those who had supported her, "especially my community". In April, Macron stated that Nakamura "speaks to a good number of our fellow citizens" and that he thought she was "absolutely in her rightful place in an opening or closing ceremony".
At the opening ceremony on 26 July, Nakamura performed a medley of her songs "Pookie" and "Djadja" with Charles Aznavour's "", from his 1963 album Qui ?, accompanied by the French Republican Guard.
Nakamura gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 2016. She has declined to share the father's identity. In 2019, she was in a brief relationship with her "Sucette" collaborator Niska. She has accused him of domestic violence and expressed regret over not pressing charges. In October 2020, she confirmed her relationship with music video producer Vladimir Boudnikoff, with whom she had worked previously. Their daughter was born in January 2022. After an incident in August of the same year, Nakamura announced the couple's separation in October. Both Nakamura and Boudnikoff were charged with reciprocal domestic violence in relation to the events of August 2022. On 23 February 2023, a Bobigny judge ruled that Nakamura had to pay a €10,000 fine, while Boudnikoff had to pay €5,000.
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| + ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Peak positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Certifications ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album | ||||||||
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| 2018 | W9 D'OR | Most Lstened Female Artist | Herself | |
| 2019 | Music Moves Europe Talent Awards | Public Choice Awards (France) | ||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best French Act | |||
| BET Awards | Best International Act | |||
| All Africa Music Awards | Best Francophone | |||
| Artist of the Year | ||||
| Crossing Boundaries with Music Award | ||||
| Best Female West Africa | ||||
| Best Collaboration | "Sucette" (feat. Niska) | |||
| Song of the Year | "Pookie" | |||
| NRJ Music Awards | Francophone Song of the Year | |||
| Francophone Performance of the Night | ||||
| Francophone Female Artist | Herself | |||
| 2020 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best French Act | Herself | |
| NRJ Music Awards | Francophone Female Artist of the Year | Herself | ||
| 2021 | Apple Music | Artist of the Year (France) | Herself | |
| 2023 | The Future Awards Africa | Prize for Music | Herself |
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