Dimi Mint Abba

Dimi Mint Abba was born in Mauritania in 1958 to a family of musicians. Her mother was a percussionist, while her father had composed Mauritania's national anthem in 1960 after the country had obtained its independence from France. As a child she sung for her parents, and when she was ten her mother taught her to play the t'bol and the ardin, both of which are instruments traditionally reserved for women. In 1976 she first sang on Mauritanian radio and made a great impact with her powerful voice. The same year she won a radio-sponsored competition that allowed her to enter the...