Safiath

Safiath, the stage name of Safia Aminami Issoufou Oumarou (born April 15, 1982), is a Nigerien singer, rapper, and songwriter.

Safiath was born in Khartoum,^[1] and is ethnically Tuareg and Zarma;^[2] her mother is Sudanese, while her father is Nigerien.^[3] It was he who told her that she could become anything she wanted, other than a fashion designer; consequently she went to Morocco to study economics and banking. It was while there, in Rabat, that she joined a group that performed salsa, in which she played guitar; she then returned to Niger, where she found it easier to gain work as a musician than using her degrees.^[4] She is the lead singer of the rap group Kaidan Gaskiya, but has sung a variety of other genres as well.^[5] Many of her songs, which are performed in languages such as French, Hausa, Zarma and Tamasheq,^[4] deal with social issues, similar to those of Zara Moussa; children's rights in particular are a popular theme in her work,^[6][5] and she has spoken of a desire to raise consciousness in a younger generation with her songs.^[3] Safiath is married to the rapper Phéno, with whom she has a child.^[1] She has represented Niger in numerous international musical competitions,^[5] including the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie in Nice,^[1] and has spoken of wish that her countrymen would listen more to the music of their native land and less to more popular music; she has also said that she feels that Nigerien rap is declining in quality as it takes on more and more foreign influences, especially from French and American performers.^[3] Outside of Niger, Safiath has also collaborated with artists from other African nations during her performing career.^[7]

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