North Africa<\/a>, Yennayer marks the beginning of the New Year on January 12. Bonfires are lit in Morocco\u2019s Atlas Mountains, Algeria\u2019s Kabylia region, and Egypt\u2019s Siwa Oasis, to cleanse the past year and usher in the new.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe Imazighen (plural for Amazigh, the free people) are North Africa\u2019s indigenous inhabitants. They encompass over 100 tribes with unique cultures and speak over 40 distinct languages, which they have struggled to protect from cultural invaders for centuries.<\/p>\n
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One thing they have in common is an impeccable gift of music making, which is characterized by hypnotic rhythms, pentatonic scales, storytelling, and mesmerizing communal vocals of call and response. You might recognize it by its string instruments and, more recently, the electric guitar of the Tishoumaren (desert blues) genre.<\/p>\n
To Moroccan journalist Dounia Salimi<\/span>, Amazigh music is amongst the most beautiful in the world. \u201cIt\u2019s a household staple in Morocco, for Amazigh and non-Amazigh families alike,\u201d she tells OkayAfrica<\/span>. \u201cIt was always part of our everyday life and our memories. We listened to it on the road when going to see the winter snow or spring waterfalls in Ifrane, in the regions around Marrakech and Agadir, and in the North, where I\u2019m from.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cWhat moves me most is that it is truly pure poetry, in dialects that were transmitted and survived solely through oral tradition,\u201d she continues. \u201cEven when it\u2019s sung in dialects I don\u2019t understand, it somehow speaks to me deeply. It carries struggles, love, resilience, and collective memory. Stories rooted in specific places, resonating far beyond them. It\u2019s both deeply rooted and universal, in a way that conveys and unites over what it means to grow up in Morocco.\u201d<\/p>\n
Algerian politics student Omar Djabi<\/span> shares this sentiment. Like Salimi, he grew up hearing Amazigh music at family events and gatherings, specifically the Kabyle and Chaoui genres from his family\u2019s region. \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s a bit weird because I don\u2019t understand the language; my mother never taught it to me. But you feel a connection. It\u2019s like it\u2019s in the blood,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\nDjabi\u2019s family celebrates Yennaer with tea and sweets. Here\u2019s a list of songs from Algeria, Morocco, and Libya to honor the start of the new agricultural year, led by Djabi\u2019s recommendation that the best Amazigh music is \u201canything by Tinariwen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tuareg territory<\/span><\/h2>\nTinariwen – \u201cN\u00e0nnufl\u00e0y\u201d (Algeria, Mali)<\/h2>\n