In Mali, where Fatoumata Diawara was raised, it is common for women to sing, but much rarer for women to play an instrument. As a result, Fatoumata—who is one of the first, if not the first woman guitarist in all of Mali—has developed a self-taught, intuitive guitar playing style that is entirely her own. “This way of playing, it's me,” says Fatoumata. “It represents my fight as a musician, as an African, and as a lady on stage.” In this episode of Object of Sound, Fatoumata talks to Hanif about how she discovered her calling as a musician, and the exciting ways that she is fusing the traditional music of her homeland with Western influences on her third studio album, out next year. Hanif closes the episode with a selection of blues and folk music from Mali. For the playlist of songs curated for this episode, head over to radio.sonos.com.
Music In This Week’s Episode:
Kalan - Fatoumata Diawara
Bassemory - Mamou Sidibé
Lalla - Tinariwen
Kuma - Salif Keita
Sabali - Amadou & Mariam
Sarama - Oumou Sangaré
Tongo Barra - Vieux Farka Touré, Khruangbin
Credits:
This show is produced by work by work: Scott Newman, Jemma Rose Brown, Kathleen Ottinger, Rhiannon Corby, and by Hanif Abdurraqib. The show is mixed by Sam Bair. Extra gratitude to Joe Dawson and Saidah Blount at Sonos.
This Summer of Live Music (feat. Esperanza Spalding and Cherie Hu)
Ode to the Duet (feat. Sharon Van Etten)
Ahead of Their Time (feat. Mykki Blanco)
Musician’s Work (feat. Brittany Howard)
Beyond Tastemaking (feat. Hrishikesh Hirway)
They’re Calling Me Home (feat. Rhiannon Giddens)
Protest and Possibility (feat. Vijay Iyer)
Redemption Songs (feat. Julien Baker)
Hop On the Souuuul Train (feat. Ericka Blount Danois)
Songs for the End of the World (feat. Sydney Sprague)
Unpacking The GRAMMYs (feat. Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael)
One Year Later (feat. KeiyaA)
Going Solo (feat. Matt Berninger)
Baldwin and Me (feat. Meshell Ndegeocello)
Infinite Love (feat. Sylvan Esso)
Oh Say Can You See? (feat. Wesley Morris)
Jazmine’s Tale (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
Music Gets Masked Up (feat. Sasha Geffen and Harmony Holiday)
Playlists for our Future Selves (feat. Moses Sumney)
What Makes a Great Cover Song (feat. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy)
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