message in a bottle

Hamadt Ka is one of Nouakchott’s crop of modern singer/songwriters. He lives in Basra, between the town and the sea. The sand streets are quiet and the houses are staggered. Many of the residents are Pulaar and Wolof, having left the cramped transient quarters of Cinquieme to build in a place “where the wind blows” — it is cooler here, and the breeze tumbles down the wide streets with the taste of salt.

The lyrics are in Pulaar, but stark categorization is a bit presumptuous — the “Pulaar Folk” genre built on specific modes — when there are a wider array of styles and influences than Fouta Toro…

A pentatonic song of drought and village exodus:

sécheresse

…and a Seu-Jorgesque cover:

sos

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. @Ariskany_Evan

    not much to add to the discussion, but those were beautiful!!

  2. GvNd

    amazing!

  3. priffe

    Sting lives in Nouakchott wow

  4. Jo/No

    Nice ones! Crisp and tender.

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