Lubiana

"There is no music of the world, but music for the world." — Lubiana

A guardian of a borderless musical temple, Belgian-Cameroonian singer, kora musician, and composer Lubiana takes us on a journey into a universe that captivates with its rich sounds from Africa, Europe, and North America. Rooted in emotion, Lubiana's music is an artful blend of pop songwriting and ethereal melodies where earth and sky, crystalline tones, and organic sounds seem to call and respond, reminiscent of the "call and response" tradition in blues and African American gospel. At the heart of her songs, ancestral melodies from her mastery of the kora collide with urban sounds and echoes of classical music. These seemingly distant influences are seamlessly woven into a cohesive style, infused with syncretism.

Reflecting her unique appearance—blue-green eyes framed by striking Afro hair—Lubiana's music is a canvas of contrasts, evoking an increasingly diverse modern world. Her travels through Cameroon, Mali, Gambia, and Senegal, enriched by experiences on open mic stages in London, Paris, and Los Angeles, have nurtured this globetrotting artist, alongside her classical and jazz vocal studies at the Leuven Conservatory (Lemmensinstituut). Titled Terre Rouge, Lubiana's new album mirrors a branching musical quest. Over ten tracks that celebrate nuance, we glimpse some of the inspirations that have accompanied her journey: the teachings of kora master Toumani Diabaté, featured on the track Mali; the subtle influences of Lauryn Hill and Lianne La Havas—artists with whom Lubiana shares a love for folk and soul; and the artistic kinship with Franco-Rwandan musician Gaël Faye, a distinguished guest on the song Farafina Mousso and its accompanying music video.

Throughout the English and French tracks of Terre Rouge, Lubiana reveals her many facets, as if sketching a star-shaped pattern floating atop a precious stone.

Singer-Songwriter and the Making of Terre Rouge

Lubiana began crafting Terre Rouge in 2022 during the French tour of her debut album Beloved (2021) and continued its development across Cameroon, Mali, and Senegal. She sought to highlight the acoustic sounds of instruments and textured timbres. In contrast to the digital era, Terre Rouge was recorded live over seven days with seasoned musicians such as Clément Ducol (composer and multi-instrumentalist from CNSMD), Christophe "Disco" Minck (double bassist and ngoni player, a traditional West African string instrument, who toured with Rokia Traoré), and "Titi" Dufour on percussion, drums, and cello. Here, there are no synthetic kicks or snares, but notes brimming with sensuality and magic. "I composed 60 tracks for this album," Lubiana recounts. "Gradually, some stood out as obvious choices."

Each song explores a common theme. Djali carries the name of the griots—traditional kora players who are central to Terre Rouge. The River of Broken Hearts reflects the sacred meaning of rivers in Africa, where purification rituals are performed. Farafina Mousso, meaning "Woman of Africa" in Bambara (the language of Mali), is an ode to Black women, performed with Gaël Faye. Lubiana traveled to Rwanda with Faye to meet Rwandan women who, despite the indelible impact of the genocide, embody hope, courage, strength, and love.

As the album took shape, Lubiana also prepared a documentary titled Terre Rouge, complementing the album with visuals.

The Origins of Terre Rouge

The daughter of two architects—a Belgian mother and a Cameroonian father—who met in Brussels during their university studies, Lubiana has always navigated between two distinct cultures. As a child, she already felt a sense of multiplicity. From a young age, she spent extended stays in Cameroon: in Douala, but especially in the village of Bangoua, where her paternal grandparents live and her ancestors rest, originating from the Bamileke tribe.

In this world, shrouded in mystery and red earth, with lush guava trees and peanut plantations, she discovered the origins of her name: Lubiana Kepaou Kouamou Tchoutouo Nono. Tchoutouo and Nono are the names of her ancestors, who were village chiefs and healers. Walking the paths of Bangoua, she also became aware of the sacredness of nature and the importance of the elements.

In tribute to this land's beauty and her ancestors, the song Ancestors unfolds like a litany over kora arpeggios and a string quartet. The melodies and arrangements are carried by Lubiana's voice, which seems to float "between the sand and clear water," as she sings on Terre Rouge. Bilingual, Lubiana elegantly switches between French and English lyrics, depending on the mood of her verses. Some songs are interspersed with Bangoua, the language of her ancestors, honored in Ancestors. This vocal polyphony features Lubiana's singing counterpointed by her grandfather Jean Kepaou’s deep voice—an 83-year-old chanting a prayer, asking the ancestors to bless his granddaughter.

Since childhood, walking the streets of Douala, Lubiana was often called "the White girl" by passersby. In this song, supported by syncopated percussion rhythms and the kalimba (a lamellophone invented 3,000 years ago on the West African coast near Cameroon), Lubiana shares the feeling of floating that has accompanied her life as a young mixed-race woman. A "foreigner" who long wondered about her "place on this earth." The entire album Terre Rouge thoughtfully addresses this deeply personal yet universal question.

From the Conservatory to the Kora

Some voices transcend time and space, tracing luminous lines toward distant horizons, like windows to the world. When you hear Lubiana sing, it becomes clear that music chose her as a vehicle for her artistic quest. In close harmony with her instrument, this kora virtuoso appears fused with a sonic sculpture radiating visual music, imbued with transparency and refraction.

Her voice bears the hallmarks of Wagnerian lyrical sopranos—crystalline brilliance, timbral purity, and vocal elasticity—combined with an interpretation rich in rawness, drawn from deep within the soul.

Lubiana developed her style along a musical journey that began at the Royal Conservatory of Leuven, where she graduated with high honors. Alongside classical piano and music theory, she discovered the deep timbre of Sarah Vaughan and the dissonances of Nina Simone at age 15, deciding to specialize in jazz vocal technique. However, her path was fraught with obstacles for years. She struggled to find the instrument that would best complement her voice. It eventually appeared to her in a dream—a harp made of a round calabash with 21 strings attached to a neck by rings. Lubiana later discovered this was a kora, an instrument from West Africa she had never encountered.

From the first listen, it was love at first sight. Taking lessons with a Senegalese teacher alongside her jazz studies, Lubiana managed to incorporate this instrument—which "awakens all our senses," as she puts it—into her conservatory curriculum. Upon meeting the great Toumani Diabaté, he told her, "If you dreamed of the kora, it chose you, because that’s how it appears—in dreams." Toumani Diabaté gave her his blessing, unknowingly marking the start of a long journey for Lubiana. She would dedicate her conservatory thesis to the transmission of oral music and the links between the kora and improvisational music like jazz and blues.

"Like jazz in its origins," she explains, "kora music is based on variations of rhythmic patterns. Moreover, unlike Western tradition, the kora is a diatonic instrument tuned to the voice, not independently of it (oral tradition)." Today, Lubiana is one of the very few female kora players—an instrument traditionally reserved for male griots, passed down from father to son.

The Map of Love: London-Los Angeles-Paris-Cameroon, Mali, Senegal, Gambia...

At 21, during her studies, Lubiana embarked on a tour of open mics in London, then Los Angeles—where she stayed for a year—with the aim of making the kora accessible to other cultures. She had been composing since she was 16 and already had a repertoire she performed with the kora. In Los Angeles, she was discovered by Om’Mas Keith, the renowned producer of Frank Ocean and Kanye West, who introduced her to the neo-soul elite. She found herself in Sunset Boulevard recording studios with producers like Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman (former guitarist for Lauryn Hill and producer for H.E.R. and Lianne La Havas).

She returned to France, settling in Paris, where she was signed by the label 6 and 7, with whom she released an EP and her debut album Beloved. From 2021 onward, Lubiana undertook long journeys in Africa. In Saint-Louis, Senegal, she decided to retreat with Manding griot Ablaye Cissoko, a kora virtuoso known for his sublime arpeggiated bass rhythms. He told her, "Lubiana, the kora has the sound of your soul; think of your words and actions because you have a whole people with you." The album Terre Rouge is imbued with the echo of his words and the open-mindedness of this musician, who continues to deepen her style.

Lubiana's unique way of playing the kora—arpeggios, chords, melodies—is fascinating. To the traditional kora style—very rhythmic and sharp—she juxtaposes a more melodic approach, infused with her vocal cords. Lubiana continued her kora studies in Mali with the Diabaté family—with Toumani Diabaté's sister, griot and singer Assetou Diabaté—and in Gambia at the school of renowned kora player Sona Jobarteh. It was in Mali that Toumani Diabaté proposed a two-voice duet. Immersed in a meditative state under a night sky lit by the dance of the Milky Way, Lubiana composed Mali, a piece inspired by ternary and quaternary rhythms, featured on Terre Rouge. Against the counterpoints of kora, played by Lubiana and Toumani Diabaté, Clément Ducol's arrangements and the plucked string sounds of the piano resonate in space.

Terre Rouge is the fruit of a long process—an identity quest by a young artist who, above all, seeks to convey an infinite feeling of love, employing the most sophisticated means to achieve it.