Ahmedou Lowla (Mauritánia)

Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla plays instrumental electronic music, playing his keyboard in a crazy and virtuosic manner, in a style known in Mauritania as WZN, which is simply known in Arabic as "music" or "instrumental music." Born into a family with musical traditions (his father was a famous tidnit player from the Traza region), he has become one of Mauritania's most renowned keyboard instrumentalists. He performs at the lavish weddings in the capital, where he is also famous for his theatrical performances: he often plays the instrument with his elbows or head to make the melodies even more expressive. Mauritanian wedding music, which is also exciting international pop music. If you like Omar Souleyman, you’re in for a treat!

Lowla's 2019 album Terrouzi offered a forward-looking vision of WZN in Mauritania. Ahmedou's music utilises all the plastic sounds of a digital synthesiser, while accompanied by the beats and snaps of programmed electronic drums. His style is hard to categorise: he transforms ancient melodies into baroque musical outbursts, while playing almost guitar-like solos over the WZN's distinctive microtonal inflections. Ahmedou doesn't settle for tradition - he bravely draws on the tools of international pop music to create anachronistic yet mesmerising pieces that range from slow R&B hits of the nineties to deep bass boom bap and minimalist trap. A standout among synthesizer musicians from the Sahara.