Wassoulou music

Wassoulou (Bambara: Wasolo) is a genre of West African popular music named for the Wassoulou cultural area.^[1]

Wassoulou music is performed mostly by women. Some recurring themes in the lyrics are childbearing, fertility, and polygamy. Instrumentation includes soku (a traditional fiddle sometimes replaced with modern imported instruments), djembe drum, kamalen n'goni (a six-stringed harp), karinyan (metal tube percussion) and bolon (a four-stringed harp). The vocals are often passionate and emphatic, and delivered in a call-and-response pattern.

Prominent Wassoulou artists include Nahawa Doumbia,^[2] Oumou Sangaré, Coumba Sidibe, Dienaba Diakite, Kagbe Sidibe, Sali Sidibe, Jah Youssouf, and Fatoumata Diawara.^[1]

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b Jon Lusk (5 June 2009). "Coumba Sidibe: Malian singer who helped to popularise West African Wassoulou music". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
^ Spice, Anton (5 August 2019). "Awesome Tapes From Africa to reissue Nahawa Doumbia's debut album". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

References[edit]

Duran, Lucy (2003). "Women, Music, and the 'Mystique' of Hunters in Mali". In Ingrid Monson (ed.). The African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective. Taylor & Francis. pp. 154–186. ISBN 9780415967693.

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[Lusk2009-1] Jon Lusk (5 June 2009). "Coumba Sidibe: Malian singer who helped to popularise West African Wassoulou music". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2014.

[vinyl-2] Spice, Anton (5 August 2019). "Awesome Tapes From Africa to reissue Nahawa Doumbia's debut album". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

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