Habib Koite comes from a great line of Malian, Khassonke griots. His grandfather was a virtuoso of the traditional n’goni, his father played guitar and his mother is still a singer. After secondary education he was expected to study engineering but thanks to his uncle, he was pushed towards the National Institute of Arts (NIA) in Bamako where he studied music for four years. During this time he was asked to join the institute’s elite <