Born in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, on September 3, 1963, Jean Émilien Rakotoandrasana demonstrated his vocal prowess at the age of five in a school competition. He learned to play the kabosy, a Malagasy string instrument similar to the guitar, and then naturally turned to music when he reached adulthood. He developed a passion for the music of his homeland, in particular vako-drazana, the "song of the ancestors", and rija. Renamed Jean Émilien, he recorded his first compositions in 1982 once he arrived in Antananarivo. The tracks became jingles for Radio Nationale, and the Malagasy composer's talents gradually made a name for themselves on the city's cultural scene. He performed in concert, gaining popularity by modernizing traditional musical styles with his characteristic high-pitched voice. He recorded his first album in Paris in 1989, Hey Madagascar, largely influenced by sega, a highly influential style around the Indian Ocean at the time. He won the title of World Harmonica Champion at the 1991 Hohner competition in the USA and toured throughout the decade, opening for Bernard Lavilliers, Charlélie Couture and Carlos Santana. In quick succession, he released Ezaka (1997) and Miandraza (1998), two new albums in which he highlighted Madagascan musical culture, to which he added the blues influence that earned him comparisons with the American musician Robert Johnson. Jean Émilien, who became increasingly discreet as a composer in the 2000s, died of cardiac arrest on April 5, 2017 at the age of 54.
