Africa's Rock and Roll Rebels (Advanced Program)

Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Andrew Davis and.

I'm Alice Irrazari. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.

Since the beginning, rock and roll was all about rebellion. The styles, electric instruments and loud music seemed frightening to older listeners, but to young people these new sounds were welcome. They expressed their dissatisfaction. It gave them something to dance to.

But for one group of musicians, this rebellion was more real than most. The group of musicians is called Tinariwen. Formed in nineteen seventy nine, Its members fought for their people, both in song and in reality. Together they even created a new form of music. Today's spotlight is on Tenariwen.

Tenariwen is a group of musicians from northern Africa. They are Tuareg. The Tuareg people are nomadic, without a single home. Instead, they travel from place to place herding sheep and other animals. Traditionally, the Tuareg people had no nation. The Sahara Desert was their home. They traveled wherever the desert was without restriction.

This changed in the nineteen sixties, France ruled much of northern Africa, but in the nineteen sixties they gave power back to the native peoples. They created different countries like Libya, Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Fasso.

This was a positive change for many people living in these countries, but the Tuareg often traveled between these countries. These new countries restricted their traditional way of life. Many Tuareg felt like they had no power. In nineteen sixty three, Tuareg in Mali rebelled against their government. They tried to create their own country.

This rebellion failed. The government of Mali killed many Tuareg fighters. Ibrahim ag al Haabib is one of the founding members of Tinariwen. His father was a rebel fighter. In nineteen sixty three, he watched as his father was executed for being part of the rebellion. He grew up in refugee camps without a home or work.

The first members of tinari Win met many years later, but they shared similar experiences. The problems and pains of the Tuareg people are at the heart of their music. Abdallah ag al Hussini is one of the first members of tinari Win. He spoke to the Quietas about their music.

Our message is connected to the things we love and care for. It is about the desert which is our home. It is about these people who are our family. We want the world to know of their beauty and the originality. We want to talk about all the problems that are threatened them every day.

At first, the members of tinari Win played traditional tuaregg music, and they did not think of themselves as a musical group. They did not even have a name. The people who listen to them them Tenari when this means the desert boys. Ayad agh Leche plays the bass guitar, a low sounding instrument with Tenari when he spoke to the Kwaidas about those early days.

This was not a band in the sense of your definition of a band in Europe. It was an open family of writers and musicians. They performed only for their friends, and later they performed for traditional marriage ceremonies and parties.

But Western music also influenced tinari when soon many members of the band traded their instruments for electric guitars. These stringed instruments define modern rock music. In the nineteen eighties, the band discovered Western musicians like Jimi Hendrix, led Zeppelin and B. B. King. Tenari Ween combined this music with their own. The result was a special sound that brings to mind the desert and its people.

Tinariwen soon grew popular among the Twareg people. But the band were not just musicians. They were also soldiers. Muammar al Kadafi was the ruler of Libya in nineteen eighty, he invited Twareg men to train with his army. Many in Tenariwen accepted. In Libya, they learned to use guns to defend themselves. But it was also here that their music became more political. Their music spoke about creating a

Then, in nineteen ninety war came to Mali. Tuareg rebel fighters attacked government buildings. These fighters demanded a separate government for a new nation. They protested there was no place for them in Mali's government. They were also dissatisfied because of a drought. A drought is a time with little rain. It caused poverty and starvation among the Tuareg.

For six months. Some members of Tinariwen joined the rebellion. When the fighting ended, Twareg in Mali had more power. Fighting between different groups continued over the years, but since then they devoted their lives only to making music. In two thousand and one, they released their first record for international audiences. They called it the Radio Tistas Sessions.

Kiotistas Sessions launched tenaru Ween's career. Since then, they have played shows all over the world. They released a total of nine collections of songs. The Grammy Awards are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States. The awards are given every year for excellent music recordings. They have chosen tenari Ween three times. One collection of songs, Tassili, won the award for Best World Music album.

Sadly, Tenariwin's success did not mean peace in their countries. In twenty twelve, Twareg rebels attacked government buildings in Mali. They drove Malian forces from the northeastern part of the country. They tried to create a new country called Azawad, but this rebellion quickly changed extreme Misted Islamist terrorists attacked the Tuareg forces. They took over the same area. These forces targeted to Nariwen's music, they called it music of the Devil.

Since that time, Tinariwen has been unable to return to Mali, but the group continues to be the voice of the Tuareg people. They speak about the beauty of being with friends under the open sky. They speak about a longing for the traditional way, but they also speak about a longing for peace. Tanari Ween is a voice that translates more than music. They speak to the soul. Abdallah ag al Hussini spoke to Panafricanmusic dot com. He said, our.

Music is based on a well thought out message. Many people understand it through our way of singing. They understand it in our ways of playing instruments. The public aspecodis, truth does not lie. That was the original message of Tenarawen. It was a music made to encourage to inform, to listen to.

What music speaks to you the most? What is it? You can leave a comment on our website or email us at radio at Radio English dot net. You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook dot com, slash Spotlight Radio.

The writer and producer was Dan Chrisman. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it on the internet at www dot Radio English. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

This program is called Africa's Rock and Roll Rebels. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,