Timbuktu

Born in Lund and raised in the Djingis Khan district in Skåne, Jason Diakité has since the 1990s built, under the name Timbuktu, a central career in Swedish rap, with Swedish writing nourished as much by hip-hop as by reggae and dancehall. Bilingual Swedish-English, he first attracted attention with the single Lifestress in 1996, then with the project Excel before launching his solo discography with The Conspiracy and the album T2: Kontrakultur in 2000. Timbuktu then refines a formula where spoken-sung phrasing, flexible rhythms and melodic refrains intersect with social, intimate or satirical texts, as on Wått’s dö madderfakking diil? in 2002, The botten is nådd! in 2003 and Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö in 2005. Very closely tied to the Swedish live scene, Timbuktu works long-term with the group Damn! and also leads the project Helt Off, more directly oriented toward reggae. His discography continued with Oberoendeframkallande in 2007, En high 5 & 1 falafel in 2008, Sagolandet in 2011, För Livet Till Döden in 2014, Du gamla, Du nya in 2021 and Har berg har vatten in 2023. Over the years, Timbuktu also multiplied collaborations with artists such as Promoe, Chords, Peps Persson, Kartellen, Mapei or Oskar Linnros, while remaining present on radio, on television and on the major Scandinavian stages.