Courtesy of Alaman Diadhiou

After being chosen as one of this year’s Spring Fling student performers in the recent Battle of the Bands, singer Alaman Diadhiou ’23 was eager to continue performing live. 

Diadhiou performed some of his original songs alongside Boston-based band New Legaxy in the Benjamin Franklin Common Room on Thursday at 10 p.m. The evening began with a few songs from New Legaxy before Diadhiou took the stage. The band, featuring Cisco Swank on the keyboard, Evenson Vincent on the bass and Arlo Sims on guitar, played several songs, including one paying homage to New Orleans, a Beatles cover and some original music. Brian Richburg, New Legaxy’s drummer and Diadhiou’s high school friend, collaborated with Diadhiou to organize the concert. Apart from working individually with Richburg, this was Diadhiou’s first time performing with New Legaxy. 

Having spent two years during the pandemic without the chance to perform for an audience, Diadhiou is more attuned to the importance of the first few performances that are in person once again. In particular, he wants his Spring Fling set to be carefully thought out and planned. 

 “I want to do it right,” Diadhiou said. 

The absence of live performance on campus has also been felt by other students. Diadhiou’s concert has been one of many recent chances for students to experience in-person music on campus after the pandemic largely halted live performances.

“[Diadhiou’s concert] made me appreciate live music more,” Lidya Demilew ’25 said.  

The return to in-person performances hasn’t been the only new development in Diadhiou’s music journey. This past month, he began performing his original compositions live for the first time. Apart from his one cover of the song “Adorn” by Miguel, the entirety of his performance on Thursday consisted of his original songs. 

When songwriting, Diadhiou says he tries to consider how listeners will process the music in a “performance context” as well as in a “personal listening context.”  As a comparative literature major, he hopes his courses will allow him to find “some kind of synthesis between sonic qualities and narrative qualities” and improve who he is as a songwriter and an artist. 

Not only has Diadhiou considered his identity as an individual artist, he has also thought about his identity as a Yale artist. Being a student and an artist at Yale for Diadhiou means “making your own space.”

“It’s not like Yale is begging you to [make art], you have to create that space for yourself [and make] more noise than the representation you have,” Diadhiou said. 

By perfecting his live performances and sharing his original music, Diadhiou hopes that he will be able to create such a space for himself this semester. Even still, his creative work on campus is not just about who he is as an artist at Yale. 

“Yes, I want to be a great artist at Yale, but I also want to be a great artist, period,” Diadhiou said. 

Diadhou also noted the lack of representation in terms of Black artists on a campus that is predominantly white, as well as the scarcity of artists focused on R&B as a genre. He said that there are so many Black artists he hopes will “take up more space” at Yale and he is excited to continue making his own music while collaborating with other Black artists on campus. 

Ultimately, Diadhou wants his work to be something that people remember. He believes it is up to him as an artist to create and present in a way that people feel they cannot be anywhere else when he is performing. 

After Thursday night, fans are eager to watch Diadhou perform again soon.

“Alaman was awesome and I’m really excited to watch him at Spring Fling!” Grace Aitken ’25 said. 

Diadhiou is a student in Benjamin Franklin College.