American label collects Sahelian music nuggets via Whatsapp

It’s the same principle as a good old cassette which is recorded in the cellar, copied 1000 times and shared among the fans. With the exception of today, musicians from the Sahel will make themselves known around the world simply by needing a smartphone and WhatsApp messages.

This is what Ali Traole, 26, wants. On Bamaco’s dirt floor full of scooters and boxes of jelly, a young man, all in black, begins to trample the strings of his acoustic guitar. For his part, Hamadung Gind hits the carabash rhythmically. Ali, whose artist name is “Bounaly”, sings nostalgia for the dunes of his hometown of Near Fonke, who went to study abroad in 2010 (also the dunes of singer and giant guitarist Ali Falca Touré). Bamako two years before the advance of the jihadists in northern Mali.

With a smile, he presses the “stop” button on his smartphone after a few minutes. Simply send the track with WhatsApp to Christopher Kirkley, the founder of Sahel Sounds label in Oregon, on the west coast of the United States.

Sahel Sounds generally releases vinyls recorded in Mali, Mauritania, Niger or Senegal. But in January 2020, his boss decided to ask musicians in those countries to send recordings via WhatsApp. He then posts them on Bandcamp, an online music sales platform known for hosting independent artists, with little editing.

Downloads are free for Internet users

Every month a new song is released under the title “Music from Saharan Whats App”. For Internet users, the price of the download is free. As for the artist, he receives 100% of his income the month his work is online. Ali Traore was given to him once by Christopher Kirkley“Record sounds on the phone”, Then transfer with WhatsApp. “I said OK, no problem, we’re doing this.” After that, only two weeks passed between recording the song in early November and uploading it.

“The Malian label cannot take you on an American or international tour.”Focuses on musicians who want this music from WhatsApp to get it bad reputation. “It’s basically an experience to see how to break down the barriers to market entry for these artists from West Africa.”Admit to AFP Christopher Kirkley.

Some of the people who participated in the project “I was shocked”, He says by the amount they have collected in such a short time for a few songs stored on their phone. “It was really great”, Originally from Niger, pleases Amariam Hamadalher, member of the Tuareg group Bruce Les Filles de Illighad. She said the five songs recorded at her home with her friends brought in 3,000 euros, which is 20 to 30 times the average salary in the region. “We have been very helpful during this rather difficult time of the corona virus.”

“Works that cannot be found anywhere else”

Christopher Kirkley founded Sahel Sounds in 2009, initially as a blog. He then traveled for years, notably in the Sahel, a huge semi-desert region south of the Sahara, recording local musicians. He recognized the importance of cell phones in the musical world of the sub-regions. Back then we didn’t have duplicate tapes anymore, but the internet was not yet very popular, and we had to use Bluetooth to exchange files between phones a few feet away.

“It was really fun seeing what people had on their phones. It was different in every city, and there were a lot of songs on the radio and on YouTube that I couldn’t find anywhere else. “Remember what the magazine remembers Les Inrockuptibles nickname “Adventurer has become a producer”.. Ten years later, smartphones are everywhere in the Sahel, but Christopher Kirkley “Please play with the same idea a bit” : Find and inform about the music that will be played and shared in the Sahel without the filters of studio producers or record companies.