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The inhabitants of theWestern Sahara have created both traditional as well as modern music styles.Sahrawi music shares much in common with neighbouring musical traditions, such as those ofMauritania and southernMorocco, and retains aspects of pre-colonial heritage.[1]
Thetbal is the basicpercussion instrument, while the traditionalstring instrument calledTidinit, has largely been replaced by theelectric guitar. Some performers aretribespeople who lived anomadic existence before theWestern Sahara War againstMorocco between 1975 and 1991, which was true of the family ofMariem Hassan.[2]
The firstSahrawi music album, titledPolisario vencerá, was recorded live inBarcelona, in 1982 by the bandShahid El Uali. From 1998,Nubenegra (a Spanish music label) marketed several Sahrawi music CDs in theUnited States andGermany, with a first release of a three-disc box titledSahrauis: The Music of the Western Sahara. Featured artists in the compilation were singers Mariem Hassan andAziza Brahim,Leyoad, and guitaristNayim Alal. In 2000, American labelRounder Records released their own compilationStarry Nights in Western Sahara. In 2003 Nubenegra edited the albumNar (Fire) from guitarist and singer Nayim Alal.
In 2002 Mariem Hassan and Leyoad released a collaboration album,Mariem Hassan con Leyoad. Then, in 2005 Nubenegra edited Mariem Hassan's first solo album, titledDeseos (Wishes). In 2009, her albumShouka (Thorn) was published. Her last work,El Aaiun egdat (El Aaiun on fire) was released in 2012.
On November 8, 2007Tiris released the albumSandtracks on British labelSandblast Records. In 2007, the American labelSublime Frequencies edited the albumGuitar Music from Western Sahara, from theDakhla-based band Group Doueh. In June 2009, Group Doueh released the albumTreeg Salaam (Streets of Peace).
In 2008, Aziza Brahim released her firstEP with the French labelReaktion, titledMi Canto (My Singing). HerLPMabruk with her band Gulili Mankoo was scheduled for June 2012.
Some Sahrawi musicians have settled inDakar, where they have played with musicians from West Africa.[citation needed]