This week’s podcast is the first ever bilingual episode with The Sultan of Shred, Bombino. Born in 1980, Bombino (born Goumour Almoctar, also known as Oumara Moctar) came of age during much political upheaval, fleeing with his family to Algeria by 1990 from the nomadic Tuareg encampment Tidene, just outside Agadez, Niger.

Teaching himself guitar by watching videos of his heroes Jimi Hendrix, Dire Straits, Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen, Bombino took to music professionally after returning to northern Niger’s largest city, Agadez. After years of honing his skills back home and spending time as a shepherd in Libya, he first left Africa and traveled to California in 2006 as lead soloist on tour with Tidawt.

During the trip, he had the chance to record a desert blues version of the Rolling Stones classic “Hey Negrita” alongside Stones’ members Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. The track appears on the 2008 album spearheaded by Rolling Stones saxophonist Tim Riese titled Stone’s World: The Rolling Stones Project Volume 2.

His studio album, Deran, received rave reviews from across the globe including a full page feature in the New York Times which dubbed Bombino ‘The Sultan of Shred’ Deran was nominated for a Grammy award (Best World Music Album), the first-ever Grammy nomination for an artist from Niger.

His latest album, 'Live In Amsterdam' was recorded at a performance in November 2019 and released in November 2020 (Partisan Records). Bombino’s life and travels have exposed him to the problems facing his people. He has taken on the mission of helping the Tuareg community achieve equal rights, peace, maintain their rich cultural heritage and promote education. He is an advocate for teaching children the Tuareg language of Tamasheq, the local Haoussa language as well as French and Arabic, all of which he speaks fluently.