Mariama is a singer-songwriter

Singer–songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 of African descent who lives in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Her first name means 'Gods Gift'.

Life

Mariama moved at the age of one with her family from Freetown, the hometown of her father, to Refrath the oldest part of the German city Bergisch Gladbach

Bergisch Gladbach

' is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis .-Geography:Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx...

 in North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

, from where her mother originates. With sixteen she started to play gituar and to write songs. Two years later she gained her first stage experience by taking part in a musical.

Music career

In 2005 Mariama performed as newcomer at the Kölner Ringfest and later worked as background singer

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 for the musician and activist Adé Bantu

Adé Bantu

Adegoke Odukoya, better known as Adé Bantu is a Nigerian-German musician, producer and activist. He is best known as the founder of the Afro-German musical collective and NGO Brothers Keepers and as the front man of Bantu & Afrobeat Academy Band...

, the founder of the German-based transnational anti-racism music project Brothers Keepers

Brothers Keepers

Brothers Keepers is a German-based transnational anti-racism project, bringing together hip hop, reggae and soul musicians, headed primarily by Afro-Germans.-History:...

. While touring with Bantu and his band Afrobeat Academy she decided to concentrate on her music career.

Mariama is member of the Brothers Keepers project and has participated in several concerts, podium discussions and educational school events against rasism since 2007. The singer is also together with Adé Bantu and his brother the Nigerian-German singer Donabi part of the Afropean Express project. They have worked with Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...

, UB40

UB40

UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...

, Tony Allen

Tony Allen (musician)

Tony Oladipo Allen is aNigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who currently lives and works in Paris. He is currently writing his autobiography "Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat" with author/musician Michael E...

, Patrice

Patrice Bart-Williams

Patrice Babatunde Bart-Williams , better known as Patrice, is an Afro-German reggae artist. He also often uses his second name: Babatunde , which his parents gave him since Patrice was born on the same day that his grandfather died. His music is influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley...

 and Xavier Naidoo

Xavier Naidoo

Xavier Kurt Naidoo is a German singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actor. Born and raised in Mannheim, Naidoo worked in several jobs in the gastronomy and the musical industry before relocating to the United States in the early 1990s, where he released his first full-length English...

.

After being introduced to the German rapper

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 Curse

Curse (rapper)

Michael Kurth , better known as Curse, is a former hip hop artist from Minden, Germany.- Biography :Curse has had a long musical past. In his youth, he played songs like "Zwei Mal In Den Kopf" in his former band Phat Kicks...

 by Patrice at the Supow Studio, Mariama joined in autumn 2008 his band and took part in his tour in November. During the 'CURSE/Freiheit-Tour' in May 2009 she performed as official support act

Opening act

An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...

.

Recent studio projects included Curses third single Wenn ich die Welt aus dir erschaffen könnte (FOUR Music/Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

 Germany GmbH) from his album Freiheit and
Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

s classic song I'm Still Waiting on the 7-inch single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 Still Waiting/Fall In Love by The Ins vs. Mariama vs. Fleur Earth.

In September 2008 Mariama was a finalist in the German wide music competition Com Canta! organised by the WDR

Westdeutscher Rundfunk

Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...

 Radiofestival.

Mariama was chosen from over 300 bands as one of the nine 'Talents' who will be supported 2009 by the Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 Sound Foundation.

The singer performs as official support act for Max Herre

Max Herre

Maximilian Herre is a German musician who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis.-Biography:...

 during his Ein Geschenkter Tag 2009 tour through Germany, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

from 3. November to 5. December.

EP

• Still Waiting/Fall In Love (2008)
• Listen to Mariama (2009)