Mdou Moctar’s “Ilana: The Creator”

Residing in the town of Abalak, Niger, Mdou Moctar has become one of the most innovative Tuareg guitarists in recent years. He recorded his first album in 2008 in Nigeria, and soon after, his songs became popular on the underground mp3 cellphone markets of West Africa. Moctar grew up in a small village in Niger where secular music was prohibited, so in order to learn guitar, he constructed one himself and practiced in secret. After a while, the local youth caught wind of his music, and he became a local celebrity. Soon after, local religious leaders heard his music and were won over by his lyrics and respect for honor and tradition. Ilana is Moctar’s first real studio album with a live band. It was recorded over the course of one week in Detroit at the end of a U.S.A. tour and was released on Sahel Sounds in March of this year. 

Moctar’s blistering Tuareg music is actually classified as Tishoumaren, a genre of blues-influenced Tuareg music from West Africa that gained popularity in the 1990s. Despite being light on lyrics, this album follows a common trend of most popular West African music: political activism. The title track is a commentary on France’s uranium exploitation of Niger. Moctar explains, “Our benefits are only dust / And our heritage is taken by the people of France / occupying the valley of our ancestors.” His activism is steeped in tradition and respect for his homeland. The title track is my favorite on the album, with a repetitive driving bass line very similar to psychedelic-rock of the ’70s in America. The vocal lines follow traditional Tuareg phrasing and clearly differentiate this music from American psychedelic rock. One of the most interesting things about Moctar’s music is that he never listened to Western music until only a few years ago. He is influenced almost exclusively by the Tuareg music he listened to growing up, and even goes on to say, “I don’t know what rock is exactly, I have no idea,” he says, “I only know how to play in my style.” 

I think music like this is extremely important, because it is something that can easily be appreciated in the West; Moctar’s success in Europe and America is evidence of this. Sahel Sounds are doing some of the most important international music work of this decade by exposing the West to new and old genres of African music that are helping to educate Europe and America to modern African cultures and traditions.