Passion & Grit
Alonside Angelique Kidjo (Benin) Mariem Hassan (Western Sahara) is the other great passionate female African singer. There are many others, of course, but Hassan stands out. Her musical accompaniment is that new, gritty electric Sahara blues that's so popular right now (the great Sahara blues bands are Tinariwen, Tartit, Terakaft, Tamikrest, Toumast, Etran Finitawa...check 'em all out, they're amazing!!) and her lyrics, they say, are fiercely political ("Shouka" means thorn!). Spiky, blood-pumping stuff indeed.
