Since their formation in 1979, Tuareg guitar band Tinariwen has been on the road nonstop. Based in Mali, Libya and Algeria, the Grammy-winning group has used their desert musicality as a lament for their refugee status, a reality that continues today.
Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, co-founder of Tinariwen, says they are currently in Algeria, after fleeing Mali in October 2024. “The Malian military and Wagner’s Russian mercenaries are burning villages, slaughtering animals and raping women,” he explains. “Nobody is talking about this – not politicians, not journalists – so we have to let the world know through our music.”
While the Tuareg are traditionally nomadic, the increasingly complex politics of the region have often placed them in violent situations. Clashes on Mali's northern border between Islamist militants, the Malian army, Tuareg rebels and Wagner mercenaries have caused mass displacement and human rights abuses. The violent conflict is at the heart of Tinariwen's 10th album, Hoggar.
On the album’s 11 songs, the band combines classic Tuareg rhythms – sometimes compared to the croaking of a camel – with hunter-like finger lines and powerful vocal harmonies. On “Aba Malik,” the soft guitar melodies are accompanied by the rhythm of tened drums, while the timeless baritone of co-founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib sings of the Wagner group’s abuses: “Cursed be Wagner / Cursed be your mother!” On “Erghad Afewo,” the band tackles the conflicts within the Tuareg tribe, while the sticky guitar sounds of “Amidinim Ehaf Solan” accompany Alhabib’s lyrics about the hope of a green land for their people.
“We don’t want independence, we just want autonomy,” Alhousseyni says during a video call from Paris, where Tinariwen is on tour. “We want a place where we can be safe in Azawad. Now we are all refugees in Algeria. We are not alone, but we have nowhere to go, even though we have done nothing wrong.”
Tinariwen's music is not just about protest; for the past 48 years, it has reached audiences outside the Tuareg community. Robert Plant has said, "This was the music I've been looking for my whole life"; Jack White invited them to record their 2023 album, Amatssou, at his studio in Nashville. Swedish-Argentine singer José González is a big fan, appearing on the album Hoggar.
The co-founders of Tinariwen first met in a refugee camp in Algeria, then moved to Libya where they were recruited into Muammar Gaddafi's paramilitaries, then moved to Mali in 1989, where they replaced guns with guitars and began playing at weddings, distributing cassettes that became popular among the displaced Tuareg.
The album Hoggar is an intergenerational celebration of Tinariwen’s influence on Tuareg music. They recorded in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in a studio created by the new generation of Tuareg Imarhan. Imarhan frontman Iyad “Sadam” Moussa Ben Abderahmane says: “Ever since I heard Tinariwen’s second album as a teenager, I was inspired to create my own music. The Aboogi studio allows us to work and invite other artists.”
Sadam participates in several songs and plays guitar, while other guests include Liya ag Ablil, an original member of Tinariwen, and González in Imidiwan Takyadam. Particularly important are the female vocalists Wonou Walet Sidati and Nounou Kaola. “80% of traditional Tuareg music is women’s voices, but in the last 10 years it has been difficult to find female singers. With Aboogi, many young girls are coming to try their hand at singing,” says Sadam.
Sadam, the newest member of Tinariwen's tour, focuses on the future of Tuareg culture: "We want to archive Tuareg music and the way of life, so that it is not forgotten."
Tinariwen, on the other hand, see their purpose in continuing to tour and record to raise awareness of the suffering of the Tuareg. “We are getting older, some of us are close to 70, but we must continue to sing about the land, our people and our animals that are being killed,” says Alhousseyni.
The Hoggar album is released today by Wedge. The Essam album by Imarhan is out now on City Slang. Imarhan's UK tour starts on March 18th at Band on the Wall, Manchester. The Tinariwen tour starts on May 2nd at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. /GazetaExpress/
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