There has been growing international interest in music from the Sub-Saharan country of Niger. While generally overlooked, a lot of incredible music is being produced there which deserves this growing attention.
The most famous performer is Mdou Moctar, who has appeared on KEXP, and is known as the ‘Prince of Niger.’ Moctar earned this moniker not only because of his incredible guitar playing, but because he starred in what is now a cult classic: the Nigerien remake of Purple Rain.
Fascinatingly, the film had to be named “Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It,” because there’s no word for purple in Tamajeq, a language of the Tuareg people, an ethnic group in Niger.
Niger also has a long-running electronic music scene dating back to the 80s pioneered by Mamman Sani. Continuing this legacy, Hama in the song ‘Terroir,’ from his album Houmeissa does an incredible job of producing immersive songs with traditional Nigerien beats on his synthesiser and computer.
Nigeriens, often lacking access to a lot of the infrastructure necessary for high-speed internet, have nevertheless developed an intriguing system for disseminating music. Using mobile phones, music consumers will buy and trade sim cards with one another or use Bluetooth to share music.
Some of these songs have been released on the compilation album ‘Music from Saharan Cellphones.’ Finally, there is Les Filles de Illighadad who play a more traditional folk style of music. The group was founded by Fatou Seidi Ghali, who is reputedly the first Tuareg woman to play guitar professionally.
Her intricate playing style creates gorgeous melodies which she then sings with and around, beautifully joining the complex rhythms. As Sub-Saharan music becomes more and more prominent on the international stage, it’s worth looking at little bit deeper into the music of Niger.
