Gaël Faye’s first solo album, ‘Pili Pili sur un Croissant au Beurre’, invites us to join him on an inspiring journey from Burundi to France, accompanied by a variety of mystical African sounds.Born in Burundi to a Rwandan mother and French father, Faye was forced to flee from his homeland at the age of 13 due to the civil war. His first album echoes the feeling of belonging to two different cultures.
Faye questions his identity through 15 unique songs. The album is about a child born near the Tanganyika lake, who grew up in Paris, far away from his family. Today, he claims to be in peace – “I had a difficult period as a teenager. During the genocide in Rwanda, the Hutus blamed me because my mother was Tutsi; and the Tutsis blamed me because my father was French. White and black-skinned… it has also been complicated to handle.” The first track, ‘A France’, tries to reconcile both identities. Faye says, “My origins have often been opposed. I wish both could just melt to form a block.” Through ‘Métis’, he tries to find peace with himself – “I have felt torn apart because I have been properly taught about the two cultures by opposing them from the beginning. Even my parents did that, though they were not fully conscious about this. I had to find a balance between both.”
We are all invited to be a part of this wonderful journey of self-discovery.
Links to two of Gaël Faye’s songs:
Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies Publication
Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
www.ccds-berlin.de
www.culturaldiplomacy.org
Cultural Diplomacy in Africa 
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