Amadou Balaké was born in 1944 in Ouahigouya, in the northern-east of Burkina Faso. After the death of his father, he relocated with his mother in the capital of the country, Ouagadougou, where he began to meet several local musicians. Shortly after he went to Mali to work as a chauffeur apprentice, and only returned to Ouagadougou six years later. He worked some time in construction, and then became a taximan. After the loss of his vehicle, he went to Mali and was engaged as a professional musician in the Grand Hotel orchestra.

In 1963 he left Mali to play in the Tropicana orchestra in Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, but only six months later he went to Guinea. Leader of the Bafinf Jazz band, he participated there in many musical competitions, and regularly played for president Sékou Touré meetings across the country.

He returned to Burkina at the end of the 60's, and became very popular in the country thanks to his work with the Harmonie Voltaïque band. Convided by the Nigerian producer Aboudou Lassissi, he went back to Abidjan at the beginning of the 70's to record this track, "Taximan n'est pas gentil", which became a huge local success, and the first gold record from Burkina Faso.

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