Laetitia Zonzambe (QC/Central African Republic)

Laetitia Zonzambé-YAGNIMÉ uses her gifted and colourful voice to express universal human emotions. “There are no borders for those feelings,” she says. Born in Bangui, the capital and the largest city in the Central African Republic, Laetitia experienced deeply how the world can be at the same time very open, a place where a common humanity is shared, and also very closed – when borders, ideas and bad behaviors hurt people. After a time in France, Laetitia began her musical career back in Banqui, deliberately choosing to sing in the midst of upheaval and social crisis. Working with experienced musicians, she mixed traditional rhythms and sounds with pop, jazz, and R&B. In the process of touring that music, she had new-found appreciation for the extraordinary musical wealth of her country, and incorporated that into her music. Today, living in Montreal, she continues to make her music with local and international artists, singing her songs in French, English, Sango and other central African dialects.