Alpha Blondy (born January 1, 1953)[SUP][1][/SUP] is a reggae singer and international recording artist. Alpha Blondy was born Seydou Koné in Dimbokro, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). He sings mainly in his native language of Dioula, in French and in English, and sometimes in Arabic or Hebrew. His lyrics convey serious political attitudes and a sense of humor.[h=3]Childhood[/h]First son of a family of 8 children, Seydou Koné (Alpha Blondy's name before he changed it to Alpha Blondy) was raised by his grandmother, growing up in what he described as "among elders", which later was to have a big impact on his career. In 1962, Alpha Blondy went to join his father in Odienné, where he spent ten years, attending the Sainte Elisabeth high school, and getting involved in the Côte d'Ivoire students movement. Here he formed a band. But, this hobby affected his schooling and Alpha Blondy was expelled due to poor attendance. His parents then sent him to study English in Monrovia in the neighboring country of Liberia in 1973. He spent thirteen months there and then moved to the United States of America to improve his English.[SUP][2][/SUP]
[h=3][edit]First stay in the USA[/h]In 1973 Seydou moved to New York (also briefly Texas), where he studied English at Hunter College in New York, and later in the Columbia University American Language Program. He majored in English because he wanted to become an English teacher. He had to work part-time, and sometimes at night, and became ill. In New York he met Rastafarians for the first time, and was also able to see concerts by Jamaican artists such as Burning Spear. At this time he was recording Christian music but never stopped writing his own songs. Eventually he got into various scrapes in New York and returned to the Côte d'Ivoire, where he got into even more trouble until he met up with one of his childhood friends, Fulgence Kassi, who had become a noted television producer. This was the beginning of his real career as a singer, and he began to use the name "Alpha Blondy".[SUP][3]
[/SUP][SUP][h=2]Faith[/h]Alpha Blondy was born to a Muslim mother and a Christian father, and was brought up by a grandmother "who taught him to love everyone". Blondy's respect for all religions and the spirituality he derives from them can be heard on the tracks "God is One" or "Jerusalem" where he sang for unity between all religions in 1986.
[h=2]Humanitarian[/h]Alpha Blondy (Seydou Kone) was named United Nations Ambassador of Peace for Côte d'Ivoire in 2005. He made great efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to his country's political and physical division which was a result of an attempted Coup in 2001. As of March 2007 a peace agreement was signed and implemented, due to the hard work of many people including Alpha Blondy. Alpha now reaches out further with the newly created not-for-profit, non-government, non-political, charitable foundation, Alpha Blondy Jah Glory Foundation, which works towards ending social injustice and generational poverty by giving people the tools that they need to help themselves. He strongly believes in helping the poor (Jah Glory), and also that children should not be hurt. The Foundation strives to create and implement grassroots programs at the village level, such as the Women's Self-Sufficiency Micro Loan Program, to teach women who are caring for multiple orphans how to start and manage their own business, to better provide for their families, as well as other sustainable projects, such as the Tafari-Genesis Retreat Camp for Children (Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso). It especially hopes to bring joy and hope to children who have been affected by civil wars, former child soldiers, and those who suffer from chronic life-threatening illnesses, such as sickle-cell anemia, malaria, asthma, etc. Talking about Alpha Blondy, people think usually of music and indeed since 1980 he has written at least 17 albums and 194 titles. This itself indicates the great value he represents for his fans. Alpha is no longer an Ivorian star but an International Mega Star because of his fight for peace and unity all around the world. One example was his single "Who Are You" with Ophelie Winter against antipersonnel mines. He has also participated at many humanitarian and charity concerts, such as the concert in Senegal in March 2006 for the eradication of Malaria in Africa (where he appeared along with many other celebrities). He has done much, much more of this type of work in Côte d'Ivoire itself, especially at his annual free concert at Bassam beach called "festa".