Umou Sangaré loved the music on her 2017 album Mogoya so much that she revisited it the following year with Mogoya Remixed. But she still wasn’t done with it—this summer, the superstar Malian singer returned to the well for a third go-round, releasing the simply titled Acoustic, an all-unplugged live recording of the source album’s nine tracks, supplemented by two earlier Sangaré favorites.

The word “mogoya” translates to “people today.” And, according to Sangaré—a major exponent of contemporary African music for some three decades—these songs, which she is repeatedly drawn to, “speak about the complexity of relationships between humans, which are too often not genuine. There is a lack of sincerity. It’s a call for more honesty. Best friends can become enemies. I told myself that we have to take care of our dignity and have respect for each other.”

The singer is the first to admit that selections she chose to pare down for Acoustic “are very personal.”

“They speak about the bitter counterweight to success,” she continues. “It can be heavy and cruel. The songs speak about jealousies, grudges, betrayals that I have to endure. I also speak about my culture and the essential Malian values. It gave me strength and a strong character.”

And her music certainly reflects those values. “In my country, when you sing, you must have a strong message, something to say about your own reality and other people’s reality,” she adds. “As musicians, we’re seen as educators. Mali is a country with an oral tradition. We educate a lot with our words. When you see something that’s creeping up on society, you have to speak out about it. With music you can touch everybody, rich or poor people. The ones who have not had the chance to go to school can even understand our songs. Politicians should listen to what we have to say because we are the people’s voice. It’s through music that we work through problems.”

Sangaré has also used her fame to boost some positive causes outside of music, serving, for example, as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and launching several businesses: She took part in building two hotels that she owns, launched a production line for her Oum Sang automobile brand, started a taxi company, and has been involved in farming rice and livestock. While involved in these extra-musical pursuits, Sangaré has continually spoken out for women’s rights, as well as other causes she deems vital.

“My goal is to be a good example for Malian women, not only by singing but also by proving that we can make it by our own means,” she says. “I try to help people by creating employment with those activities and take part in the development of my country. I see lots of women who are undertaking cultural or agricultural projects.”

Born in Bamako, Mali’s capital city, in 1968, Sangaré released her debut album, Moussolou, twenty years ago. It was, she says, “a huge and instant hit in Mali. I wasn’t expecting it at all. You could hear my songs everywhere in the streets; it was a popular thing. But, at the same time, I received many criticisms and I faced social pressure because of the controversial lyrics. Moussolou (which means women) was intended for Malian women. I denounced forced and arranged marriage in ‘Diya Gneba,’ and celebrated sensual love in ‘Diaraby Nene.’ It was revolutionary. I couldn’t stay silent after having seen so many women suffering.”

Sangaré’s willfulness paid off as her popularity expanded—she is now recognized worldwide as one of Africa’s greatest, and most important, performers. Her 2009 album Seya was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album, and, in 2011, she took home one of the coveted statues for her participation in a cover of “Imagine” that also featured Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and others.

Now, her primary focus is on Acoustic, which was recorded in just two days at the Midi Live studio in a Parisian suburb, “in live conditions, with no amplification, no retakes or overdubs, no headphones.” Accompanied by a group of virtuoso musicians and vocalists, Sangaré describes the sessions as “playing chamber music in front of a small audience. It was all about letting go. We were in our cocoon, just friends who love music. It was like an intimate showcase.”

The two earlier tracks that augment the Mogoya tunes— the aforementioned “Diaraby Nene” and “Saa Magni,” both of which originally appear on 2003’s Oumou—were chosen, she says, “because they are among the most important songs of my repertoire; they contributed to the popularity of my music. It is always a pleasure to perform them. I still continue to sing those classic songs in my show as they never age.

“It was not difficult to remake all of these songs because this way of performing was not new to me; as a child, I used to perform fully acoustic,” Sangaré continues. “It reminded me of when I sang in the streets, or at traditional wedding ceremonies or with my mother at baptisms. I discussed the idea [for the album] first with Laurent Bizot, the founder of my label Nø Førmat! because I liked the idea of reworking those songs with a more intimate mood. We wanted to make a timeless recording, and something very natural and raw emerged from this new unplugged approach.”