Oumou Sangare

Oumou Sangare
With her unique style and a powerful message, Oumou

Sangare stands out among a field of successful female
Wassoulou singers. "Her voice is an otherworldly thrill," says
the The New Yorker. "When she lets fly one of her serpen
tine, earth-shattering phrases, you can almost hear the conti
nents quake." Tall, striking, outspoken, an inspiration to her
generation and to her sex—her lyrics lambast polygamy and
call for freedom of choice in marriage for women—Sangare
is a voice to be reckoned with.
Oumou Sangare sings for the women of Mali and, as she
says, for those of all of Africa. "African women do not have
as many rights as men," she said upon the release of her
third album, Worotan. "It is the African woman who is
responsible for the house, the children, everything. But if
that woman wants to speak in the society, she is not listened
to. So I sing her cause." From the beginning of her career,
Sangare has voiced women's concerns. Her first album,
Moussolou (Women), released in 1990, sold more than
200,000 copies, and by the age of twenty-one Sangare was
a star in West Africa and well on her way to international
fame. "I want to encourage them," Sangare says about the
122 © Rhythm Planet

4
women to whom her work has been dedicated, against polygamy. Her mother was one of
"to make them feel proud to be women. We three wives, and the experience of growing up
have to fight and be dynamic." in such a household affected her deeply. "I
Sangare was born in Bamako, the capital come from a polygamous family," she says.
of Mali, in 1968. Her mother was also a "In Mali, men are allowed to have up to four
singer, and she recognized Sangare's talent at wives. But in this type of relationship, noth-
an early age. "Sing like you're at home in the j, there is a
kitchen." her mother told her before her first lot of jealousy between the wives and moth
performance, at Bamako's huge Stade des ers, and the husbands aren't comfortable
Omnisports, at the age of six. Like many either. Everybody winds up suffering. This is
future Malian stars, she began her career why I can't stand it."
with the National Ensemble of Mali. She then Sangare's recordings leave no doubt about
joined the traditional Malian percussion group where she stands on these and other issues.
Djoliba and toured Europe in 1986. After the She is also justly famous for her songs about
tour, Sangare returned to Mali resolved to love and passion. In 1993, she released her
form her own band and base her music on second album, Ko Sira (Marriage Today), and
the southern Malian Wassoulou traditions of Worotan (Ten Kola Nuts, a reference to the
her homeland. traditional price of a bride in Mali) appeared
While encouraging the women of her coun in 1996. Sangare's success has been instru
try to employ freedom of choice in marriage, mental in introducing the unique Wassoulou
Sangare is also outspoken in her stance style of music to the rest of the world.
Rhythm Planet
come from a polygamous fam
ily. In Mali, men are allowed to
have up to four wives. But in
this type of relationship, noth
ing works. The kids don't get
along, there is a lot of jealousy
between the wives and
mothers, and the husbands
aren't comfortable either.
Everybody winds up suffering.
Named for the region just south of Bamako

from which it originated, it is a music based
on a long tradition of dances and rhythms,
and in its modern development has been
dominated by female singers. "Our rhythms
are very ancient, and the way we [play them]
is traditional," Sangare says. "Sure, the bass
guitars and other instruments are new things,
but the rhythms are ancient." The music
combines the djembe drum and karinyang
("scraper") with the jittery yet funky sound of
the kamalengoni (six-stringed "young man's
harp"). This latter instrument is a version of
the traditional donsongoni, or forest hunter's
harp, adapted by young people for their own
music. It, and the Wassoulou style Sangare
has brought to the world, symbolize youth
and a sense of freedom. "I will fight until my
dying day," Sangare has said, "for the rights
of African women and of women throughout
the world."
Oumou Sangare 125

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With her unique style and a powerful message, Oumou

122 © Rhythm Planet

Named for the region just south of Bamako

Oumou Sangare 125

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