Tag Archives: music

Writing the Afropolis

Posted on September 14, 2015 by brucewhitehouse

Ryan Skinner’s Bamako Sounds is undoubtedly the most intelligent book I’ve read about contemporary Bamako in general, and its music scene in particular. It’s an important work, less for what it says about a given set of musical styles than … Continue reading →

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Happy in Bamako

Posted on March 17, 2014 by brucewhitehouse

After all that’s happened in Mali over the last two years, sometimes we need a reminder that living there can be about something other than uncertainty, fear and violence. That people who dwell there can be–and for the most part, … Continue reading →

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Malian voices united (mostly)

Posted on January 21, 2013 by brucewhitehouse

For outsiders, among the most remarkable aspects of life in Mali is the music, the first of many things I fell in love with while living there in the late 1990s. Western journalists writing about the country’s worsening conflict this … Continue reading →

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An ka wili

Posted on January 1, 2013 by brucewhitehouse

Tiken Jah Fakoly, a well-known reggae artist who’s been based in Bamako’s Niamakoro neighborhood for the past several years, just released a single entitled “An ka wili” or “Let us rise up,” urging Malians to unite against the Islamists who … Continue reading →

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Impatient for action

Posted on December 15, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

The growing consensus regarding international military intervention to address the emergency in Mali is that it is now inevitable. But that doesn’t mean it’s imminent.  Hervé Ladsous, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping and Romano Prodi, the UN’s Special Envoy to the … Continue reading →

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Fighting for the republic, with beats and rhymes

Posted on June 5, 2012 by brucewhitehouse

Malian society has seen unprecedented levels of tension since Mali’s northern rebellion, military coup d’état and subsequent political turmoil came to a head a few months ago. Young Malians, and young Bamakois in particular, have felt increasingly victimized by the … Continue reading →

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