Africa’s Rock and Roll Rebels

Spotlight English

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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Andrew Devis.

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Since the beginning, rock and roll was all about rebellion. The style’s electric instruments and loud music seemed frightening to older listeners. But to young people, these new sounds were welcome. They expressed their dissatisfaction. It gave them something to dance to.

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But for one group of musicians, this rebellion was more real than most. The group of musicians is called Tinariwen. Formed in 1979, its members fought for their people both in song and in reality. Together, they even created a new form of music. Today’s Spotlight is on Tinariwen.

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Tinariwen is a group of musicians from Northern Africa. They are Tuareg. The Tuareg people are nomadic, without a single home. Instead, they travel from place to place, herding sheep and other animals. Traditionally, the Tuareg people had no nation. The Sahara desert was their home. They traveled wherever the desert was, without restriction.

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This changed in the 1960’s. France ruled much of Northern Africa. But in the 1960’s, they gave power back to the native peoples. They created different countries like Libya, Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

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This was a positive change for many people living in these countries. But the Tuareg often traveled between these countries. These new countries restricted their traditional way of life. Many Tuareg felt like they had no power. In 1963, Tuareg in Mali rebelled against their government. They tried to create their own country.

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This rebellion failed. The government of Mali killed many Tuareg fighters. Ibrahim Ag Alhabib is one of the founding members of Tinariwen. His father was a rebel fighter. In 1963, he watched as his father was executed for being part of the rebellion. He grew up in refugee camps, without a home or work.

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The first members of Tinariwen met many years later. But they shared similar experiences. The problems and pains of the Tuareg people are at the heart of their music. Abdallah ag Alhousseini is one of the first members of Tinariwen. He spoke to The Quietus about their music.

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“Our message is connected to the things we love and care for. It is about the desert which is our home. It is about its people who are our family. We want the world to know of their beauty and their originality. We want to talk about the problems that threaten them every day.”

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At first, the members of Tinariwen played traditional Tuareg music. And they did not think of themselves as a musical group. They did not even have a name. The people who listened to them named them Tinariwen. This means “the desert boys.” Eyadou Ag Leche plays the bass guitar, a low sounding instrument, with Tinariwen. He spoke to the Quietus about those early days.

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“This was not a ‘band’ in the sense of your definition of a band in Europe. It was an open family of writers and musicians. They performed only for their friends. And later they performed for traditional marriage ceremonies and parties.”

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But Western music also influenced Tinariwen. Soon, many members of the band traded their instruments for electric guitars. These stringed instruments define modern rock music. In the 1980’s, the band discovered Western musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and B.B. King. Tinariwen combined this music with their own. The result was a special sound that brings to mind the desert and its people.

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Tinariwen soon grew popular among the Tuareg people. But the band were not just musicians. They were also soldiers. Muammar Al-Gaddafi was the ruler of Libya. In nineteen eighty, he invited Tuareg men to train with his army. Many in Tinariwen accepted. In Libya, they learned to use guns to defend themselves. But it was also here that their music became more political. Their music spoke about creating a new Tuareg country. It spoke about having pride in their people, though many had lost their way of life.

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Then, in 1990, war came to Mali. Tuareg rebel fighters attacked government buildings. These fighters demanded a separate government for a new nation. They protested there was no place for them in Mali’s government. They were also dissatisfied because of a drought. A drought is a time with little rain. It caused poverty and starvation among the Tuareg.

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For six months, some members of Tinariwen joined the rebellion. When the fighting ended, Tuareg in Mali had more power. Fighting between different groups continued over the years. But since then, they devoted their lives only to making music. In 2001 they released their first record for international audiences. They called it “The Radio Tisdas Sessions.”

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The Radio Tisdas Sessions launched Tinariwen’s career. Since then, they have played shows all over the world. They released a total of nine collections of songs. The Grammy Awards are awards presented by the The Recording Academy of the United States. The awards are given every year for excellent music recordings. They have chosen Tinariwen three times. One collection of songs, Tassili, won the award for best World Music Album.

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Sadly, Tinariwen’s success did not mean peace in their countries. In twenty twelve, Tuareg rebels attacked government buildings in Mali. They drove Malian forces from the Northeastern part of the country. They tried to create a new country, called Azawad. But this rebellion quickly changed. Extremist Islamist terrorists attacked the Tuareg forces. They took over the same area. These forces targeted Tinariwen’s music. They called it “music of the devil.”

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Since that time, Tinariwen has been unable to return to Mali. But the group continues to be the voice of the Tuareg people. They speak about the beauty of being with friends under the open sky. They speak about a longing for the traditional way. But they also speak about a longing for peace. Tinariwen a voice that translates more than music. They speak to the soul. Abdallah ag Alhousseni spoke to panafricanmusic.com. He said,

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“Our music is based on a well-thought-out message. Many people understand it through our way of singing. They understand it in our ways of playing instruments. The public expects this. Truth does not lie. That was the original message of Tinariwen. It was a music made to encourage, to listen to inform, to listen to.”

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What music speaks to you the most? What is it? You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at [e-mail]. You can also comment on Facebook at facebook.com/spotlightradio.

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The writer of this program was Dan Christmann. The writer and producer was Dan Christmann. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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This program is called, “Africa’s Rock and Roll Rebels”. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

What music speaks to you the most? What is it?

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