[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuHW3X5QKzY&w=500&h=300&rel=0]

“I well remember hearing my first Tinariwen songs. I was about five. After the death of my mother, my father was obliged to take me to live with my grown-up sister. One morning I was sitting in front of the house and this guy walked by singing a song by Inteyeden called ‘Imidiwan Kel Hoggar’ (‘My Friends the Hoggar People’). It went straight into my brain.” (Ousmane Ag Mossa, lead singer of Tamikrest)

Tamikrest (from Northern Mali) recently toured Europe where they recorded this session for They Shoot Music – Don’t They.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkmGBxcuoHs&w=500&h=300&rel=0]

Tom Devriendt

Further Reading

Slow death by food

Illegal gold mining is poisoning Ghana’s soil and rivers, seeping into its crops and seafood, and turning the national food system into a long-term public health crisis.

A sick health system

The suspension of three doctors following the death of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son has renewed scrutiny of a health-care system plagued by impunity, underfunding, and a mass exodus of medical professionals.

Afrobeats after Fela

Wizkid’s dispute with Seun Kuti and the release of his latest EP with Asake highlight the widening gap between Afrobeats’ commercial triumph and Fela Kuti’s political inheritance