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One of my favorite songs is “No One Like You” by the famous Nigerian boy band P-Square. This song was a hit in my country, Ivory Coast, in 2007 and 2008. Listening to it now transports me right back to my teenage years. It transports me back to my fears and my hopes: finding the perfect love, finding my way, being successful, and making my family proud of me.

I can see this young version of myself in her school uniform of white shirt and blue skirt, going to school by bus every day. I had to wake up around 5:30 a.m. to make sure I was on time for class at 7:00 a.m. I was a very studious student in a band of seven girls. We were together all the time at school, but, as you know, there is always a favorite in the group.

My favorite was Elodie, my best friend. We used to travel to and from school together. She was a mathematics and physics genius and helped me to raise my level to the top. We used to listen to music together, and we have a lot of beautiful memories in common.

I remember the moment when we were walking back home and heard one of the sounds that we loved. It was like magic. We were living near some very festive places called “maquis” in Ivorian French. And these maquis were playing music outside on the street, with some chairs set up for customers. The music was very loud and anyone could come to listen or even hear the songs from home. I can see us getting off the bus and walking home when all of a sudden we heard, “Hello, how you doing,/ My angel, my one and only,/ The only one that I am missing  .  .  .” At this exact moment, we started singing the rest of the song together. We had a lot of songs like this.

“Le Miserable” by Singuila, a French singer, was our favorite when we were together. We used to look at each other and sing the refrain. We just stopped in the street, listened, sang, and sometimes danced through the end of the famous song.

After that, we resumed our talk as if nothing had happened and continued on the road. It was a really fun part of my life, with no real stress or pressure. I just had to make sure to bring my high school diploma to my parents. I did it with all six of my friends, and we were so happy! We felt like we were adults, able to run and change the world.

The magic of these songs brings back so many things:

I remember that life is beautiful and full of potential.

I remember my parents and our house back in Abidjan.

It reminds me of my high school and all the friends that I used to enjoy my favorite songs with.

It reminds me that I am lucky. I am alive. I live around the people that I love.

Our life is priceless, even more so when we are around the right people.

So let’s sing and dance!

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Bintou Keita Ouattara and her family emigrated from the Ivory Coast to New York in 2019. She studies at the New York Public Library’s Harlem branch with teacher Shawanda Williams Scott and is passionate about music, traveling, and meeting new people. She hopes to develop an online business, all while loving music and listening to it every day.