Aya Danioko, also known by her stage name Aya Nakamura, is a French pop singer who was born in Bamako, Mali on 10 May 1995. She comes from a family of griot, West African storytellers, praise singers, and poets of oral traditions. In her youth her family emigrated to France and moved to Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb North of Paris. She studied fashion at La Courneuve and took the stage name Aya Nakamura from the character Hiro Nakamura of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes, which aired 2006 to 2010. In 2014, at the age of 19, she released her first single "Karma" on Facebook. With the help of the producer |Seysey, she composed a break-up song, "J'ai mal", with a zouk type of melody. The song's video had reached more than 1 million YouTube views by that time. An old-time friend, Dembo Camara, became her producer and artistic agent. In 2016, she made the song "Brisé" with the composer Christopher Ghenda. She then released another song, "Love d'un Voyou", featuring the rapper Fababy. As a tribute to her cultural heritage and roots, she did a concert at the Modibo-Keïta stadium in Bamako, opening for the American-Nigerian star Davido. She dedicated a song to famous Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, who was born in Bamako just like her.In January 2016, the singer signed a deal with Rec. 118 and Parlophone, a label from Warner Music France. During the same year, she kept doing collaborations and she released her second single "Super Héros", featuring the rapper Gradur.
On 25 August 2017, she released her debut album Journal Intime, led by her first platinum hit, "Comportement". The album was certified platinum in France. On 23 September 2017, she participated in La Nuit du Mali in Bercy organized by the Wati-Boss, Dawala in order to celebrate the Independence Day of Mali in Paris. She shared the stage with Oumou Sangaré and other Malian artists such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Lassana Hawa, and Mokobé, among others.