- Young man, don’t be afraid of working in the fields.
- There is great wealth in the land.
- Young man, don’t reject working the land.
- Great riches lie under the earth.
- Farming can bring you a herd of goats.
- Farming can bring you a flock of sheep.
- Farming can bring you money and gold.
- A lazy person who shuns working the land
- Will never earn the riches that the earth can give.
- Where is the race of great farmers of yesterday?
- Ask the Fula of Wassoulou,
- They will tell you that the race of great farmers has disappeared.
- Ask the Maninka, the people of Sikasso, Koutiala, Ségou and Bamako
- And they will tell you that the race of great farmers is gone for good.
- The race of great farmers has disappeared.
- The great farmers of Wassoulou are all dead.
- Today, great farmers are rare.
- Young farmers, don’t be afraid of the land.
- Even if you don’t outdo the successes of those great farmers
- At least try to equal their achievements.
- For the land will never betray you.
- —Oumou Sangare, from the 1996 album: Worotan
- Ces femmes qui ont changé la chanson africaine
- Oumou Sangare
- Oumou Sangaré
- Oumou Sangare: Mali's songbird
- Music from Africa & the African Diaspora
- RootsWorld: The Online Magazine of World Roots and Folk Music
OUMOU SANGARÉ is not only Mali's greatest female vocalist, she has become West Africa's leading feminist.. 
In Mali, since the release of her
first album, "Moussolou" in 1989, she has become well known for singing
about topics that a decade ago were considered completely taboo. Her criticism
of arranged marriage and polygamy in particular challenge the traditions
of her homeland. Yet, in other respects, she adheres strongly to tradition.
Her music is built upon traditional rhythms. She sings in Wassoulou, and
makes maximum use of traditional instruments like the kamelngoni, a six-stringed
instrument with a gourd resonator. It produces a bass-like sound that is
characteristic of Wassoulou music. And in songs like N'Guatu
(quoted below) Oumou Sangaré speaks to an intense love of the land
and agriculture, her people's ancestral way of life.
N’Guatu (The Burning Grass)
A song encouraging young men not
to abandon agriculture
in order to seek unlikely fortunes in Mali's growing cities.
- To learn more about Oumou Sangare
and contemporary African music visit some of these links:
In
a shameless show of commercialism I have a link to CD Now on this site.
They do carry Oumou's CDs, as well as music from other African artists.
