Timbuktu

TIMBUKTU - HAR BERG HAR VATTEN
Simon Superti, Mats Sandahl, Miki Asante, and Tommy Black are among the names Jason has worked with. Featured on the album are Julimar Santos and Esther Kirabo, who, along with DJ Large, make up one of Timbuktu's live constellations.

"There is something about looking out over a vast horizon, realizing your smallness, and finding so much comfort and peace in that," says Jason Diakité.
"The mountain — unbreakable and ever-present — and the water, which you can’t shape."

For the past few years, Jason Diakité has lived in Hong Kong. Being so far from Sweden has given him a healthy distance from himself, which is reflected in the song "Långt fram" on the new album.

"I’ve looked at my life honestly. 'Långt fram' is a bit 'back in the day,' but I’m viewing it without becoming sentimental or emotional, without feeling sorry for myself. The identity rules I used to be trapped by — I can now cast them off, choose and change as I wish. I realize this is also tied to not being judgmental anymore. I used to be a judgmental person, mostly towards myself. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the artificial — what people do. Politics, trends, success, opinions, what I think, what others think, feeling it’s important to express my views. But it’s really not that important."

In fact, the change of environment and the city where he now lives have shaped "har berg har vatten" ("has mountains has water"). Timbuktu’s tenth studio album is calmer in its expression than what we’re used to. This is partly because he has tried to change his pitch, rap more naturally as he speaks — not to mention that several tracks were recorded while his family was sleeping in the next room.

Add to that the fact that he lives and creates in a place situated between a mountain and the sea.