The inhabitants of the

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

have created both traditional as well as modern music styles. Sahrawi music shares much in common with neighbouring musical traditions, such as those of

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

and southern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and retains aspects of pre-colonial heritage. The '' tbal'' is the basic

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, while the traditional

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

called ''Tidinit,'' has largely been replaced by the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

. Some performers are

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

speople who lived a

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

ic existence before the

Western Sahara War The Western Sahara War (, , ) was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The confl ...

against

between 1975 and 1991, which was true of the family of Mariem Hassan. The first Sahrawi music album, titled ''Polisario vencerá'', was recorded live in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, in 1982 by the band Shahid El Uali. From 1998, Nubenegra (a Spanish music label) marketed several Sahrawi music CDs in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, with a first release of a three-disc box titled '' Sahrauis: The Music of the Western Sahara''. Featured artists in the compilation were singers Mariem Hassan and Aziza Brahim, Leyoad, and guitarist Nayim Alal. In 2000, American label

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

released their own compilation '' Starry Nights in Western Sahara''. In 2003 Nubenegra edited the album '' Nar'' (''Fire'') from guitarist and singer Nayim Alal. In 2002 Mariem Hassan and Leyoad released a collaboration album, '' Mariem Hassan con Leyoad''. Then, in 2005 Nubenegra edited Mariem Hassan's first solo album, titled '' Deseos'' (''Wishes''). In 2009, her album '' Shouka'' (''Thorn'') was published. Her last work, ''El Aaiun egdat'' (''El Aaiun on fire'') was released in 2012. On November 8, 2007 Tiris released the album '' Sandtracks'' on British label Sandblast Records. In 2007, the American label Sublime Frequencies edited the album ''Guitar Music from Western Sahara'', from the Dakhla-based band Group Doueh. In June 2009, Group Doueh released the album ''Treeg Salaam'' (''Streets of Peace''). In 2008, Aziza Brahim released her first EP with the French label Reaktion, titled '' Mi Canto'' (''My Singing''). Her LP ''Mabruk'' with her band Gulili Mankoo was scheduled for June 2012. Some Sahrawi musicians have settled in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, where they have played with musicians from West Africa.

Notable Western Sahrawi musicians

* Aziza Brahim * El Wali * Mariem Hassan * Najm Allal * Tiris

References

External links

Sample and download ''Sáhara, Tierra Mía''Sample and download ''Mariem Hassan con Leyoad''''Info, Audio & video samples''Mariem Hassan ''Interview''Starry Nights in Western Sahara Listen to starry-celebration ''sample''
{{Hispanophone music Music of Western Sahara