Wanting to reciprocate the honour, Keita composed the track "Mandjou" (featured on the eponymous 1978 album) as a praise song for Touré.

[1] However, by the time the song was released, Touré had completely resorted to authoritarian rule and plunged his country into bloodshed and chaos.

[1] The project was produced by Ibrahima Sylla, a visionary who had already discovered dozens of African stars (and would later become the driving force behind Africando).

The arrangements featured roiling rhythms, slightly nasal female backup choirs, and traditional percussion typical of Malian music.

[7] Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita's work include balafons, djembes, guitars, koras, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers.

Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music, but his work was sometimes criticised for the gloss of its production and for the occasional haphazard quality.

Guest artists on his albums have included Weather Report founders Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, drummer Paco Sery, guitarist Carlos Santana, and percussionist Bill Summers.

The work is dedicated to the struggle of the world albino community (victims of human sacrifice), for which Keita has been crusading all his life.

This unique musical feel is reinforced by soulful pitches in the track "Samigna" emanating from the trumpet of the great Lebanese jazzman Ibrahim Maalouf.

He faced significant challenges in his native land of Mali, particularly among the Mandinka people, where his condition was regarded as an illness.

Despite being part of a lineage of musicians and a warrior princess, he was prohibited from pursuing music, resulting in his disownment by his father and expulsion from school.