Ti’kaniki is a Lyonnais group, half of whom come from the island of Réunion and half from continental France, with various origins. But all share a passion for Maloya, the traditional music of Réunion. Maloya derives its origins from the complex and often painful history of the island – as a fruit of slavery, it was long confined to clandestine festivities, in which slaves affirmed their desire for independence.
The French colonial authorities even went so far as to outlaw Maloya at the end of the 1950s, hoping thus to eliminate the Reunion people’s aspirations for independence. But it was necessary to wait until the 1970s for Maloya to be transformed into a symbol of national expression, before being declared a cultural heritage of humanity in 2009.