Ahamada Smis Origines Trio

Ahamada Smis is a France-based singer-songwriter from the Comoros Islands.

He mixes the traditional music from Comoros with urban poetry and rap, in the spirit of afro-ngoma. Ahamada Smis’ story is made of words and music. Among his influences and inspirations, he lists Marseilles, faith, poetry, peoples’ stories from around the world, as well as his origins.

Ahamada Smis did not want to rush. He used time to his advantage. After years of hard work and perseverance, he went from composing poetry in the rooms of a steel factory to writing in professional music studios. He carefully constructed a universe of his own and when everybody was expecting him to come up with lyrics about street life, he surprised everybody with his own reality.

Ahamada Smis’ latest project Origines, released in 2013, was produced and recorded during music creation workshops in Mayotte, Grand Comore, Anjouan, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Reunion islands. It is an encounter with traditional music and instruments. For the live performance of Origines at the 2015 Sauti za Busara, Ahamada Smis was accompanied by two multi-instrumentalists who took part in the earlier residencies.

Originally from Grand Comore, Soubi plays gaboussi and dzenze. Mohamed Issa Matona, a music teacher and member of many local groups in Zanzibar, plays oud, violin and qanun. Recordings: Origines, 2013; Etre,2010; Hip Hop Live, 2006; Ou Va Ce Monde? 2003; Gouttes d’eau, 2001