Tarwa N-Tiniri
A group of six young musicians from Ouarzazate, Morocco called Tarwa N-Tiniri is carving out space for their music and culture on the global stage. Through their music, they represent and educate people on their Amazigh culture and tradition. In the process, they have reclaimed their identity by rejecting the use of the discriminatory term ‘Berber’ which has been widely used to refer to the indigenous people of North Africa. They have reclaimed the indigenous word ‘Amazigh’, meaning ‘free human’ by introducing themselves only as that.
On this occasion, we invite them to talk about their music and culture.
Who are we?
Hamid Ait Ahmed - Lead vocalist and guitarist (electric and acoustic guitar)
El Mokhtar Ait Nacer - Electric guitarist, banjo player, and backing vocalist
Mustapha Ait Ba - Rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist
Smail Ait Nacer - Bass guitarist and backing vocalist
Mohamed El-Mobaraky - Calebasse player and backing vocalist Youssef Ait Nacer - Djembe player and backing vocalist
Tarwa N-Tiniri is a group of musicians from Morocco that plays the desert blues music genre. Sang in the Tamazight language, our music tells stories about the nomadic life and the social condition of the Amazigh people. We are producing our music as a hope for the generations to come to be proud of their roots and as a way of showing the Amazigh culture positively and powerfully to the rest of the world.
Our music is greatly influenced by traditional Amazigh music, Tinari- wen, Ali Farka Toure, Fan Rrways or music of Rrways, Gnawa music, Jimi Hendrix, B.B King, John Lee Hooker, Jazz, Regy, and country music. For a long time, traditional Amazigh music has been played with traditional instruments such as ‘agnza’ - drums and ‘djembe’. With the emergence of modern instruments - such as electric guitars, we want to combine Amazigh traditional rhythms and create a new contemporary Saharan nomadic music. Most of the beats in our traditional music are based on rhythms from jazz, blues, or reggae.
We have released our first album in 2019 titled ‘Azizdeg’. This album has various subjects and rhythms, and even if some listeners don’t understand the language, the soul of the music will engage them. At the moment, Tarwa N-Tiniri is working on a new song titled ‘Ifaw Ul- neɣ’ - meaning, light hearts.
Imazighen - Amazigh
A lot of us may have been more familiar with the term ‘Berber’ than ‘Amazigh’. A term that is very commonly used to refer to the indigenous people of North Africa. A lot of the time, we have used the term ‘Berber’ without realising the violent colonial past associated with it. To call these indigenous people “Berber” is to call them ‘Barbaric’.
Amazigh (singular) or Imazighen (plural) - meaning, free people are terms that these indigenous people have defined themselves with instead. It is a way for them to fight discrimination and reclaim their identity. Centre to Amazigh culture is what they called the ‘trinity’. It encompasses the three major themes that have now been accepted as the wider Moroccan identity: “the importance of language (Tamazight), the pervasiveness of tribal democratic system and kinship system (ddm), and the strong connection to the land (tammurt)”, shares Tarwa N-Tiniri.
