Wassoulou () is a
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
n
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
named for the
Wassoulou cultural area
In anthropology and geography, a cultural area, cultural region, cultural sphere, or culture area refers to a geography with one relatively homogeneous human activity or complex of activities (culture). Such activities are often associa ...
.
Wassoulou music is performed mostly by women. Some recurring themes in the lyrics are
childbearing,
fertility
Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...
, and
polygamy
Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...
. Instrumentation includes
soku
A soku () is a traditional West African instrument used in a type of music called Wassoulou which originated in the Wasulu region of southwest Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the ...
(a traditional
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
sometimes replaced with modern imported instruments),
djembe
A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa.
According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...
drum,
kamalen n'goni (a six-stringed
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
), karinyan (metal tube percussion) and
bolon (a four-stringed
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
). The vocals are often passionate and emphatic, and delivered in a
call-and-response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
pattern.
Prominent Wassoulou artists include
Nahawa Doumbia,
,
Coumba Sidibe,
Dienaba Diakite,
Kagbe Sidibe,
Sali Sidibe,
Jah Youssouf, and
Fatoumata Diawara.
[
]
Notes
References
*
Music of Mali
Women in music
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