Members of each caste are allowed only to marry other members of society within the same caste and the entire society is divided by castes politically, economically, and culturally. As a result, she had to give up her aspirations to teach. According to the traditions of her country, those of the Meidah family are required to carry on the art of their ancestors. She qualified as an elementary school teacher in 1974 in Rosso. Malouma commenced her education at elementary school in 1965 in Mederdra. In my texts, I am committed to educating people". When I wanted to devise a new kind of music suitable for a modern Mauritania, I thought about changing the lyrics. "Here, artists traditionally praise the ruling tribes and emirs. She taught her daughter to play the ardin, a ten-stringed harp traditionally played by women, when she was six. Her mother also came from a family of well-known traditional singers. Her father, Mokhtar Ould Meidah, was a celebrated singer, tidinet player and poet while her grandfather, Mohamed Yahya Ould Boubane, is remembered as a talented writer and tidinet virtuoso. Born into a griot family, she grew up in the small desert village of Charatt, just south of Mederdra in West Africa.
Malouma Mint Moktar Ould Meidah was born in Mederdra in the Trarza Region of south-western Mauritania, on October 1, 1960, the year the country gained independence from France. Her work has been recognized by the French, who decorated her as a Knight of the Legion of Honor, and the Americans, whose ambassador to Mauritania named her a Mauritanian Woman of Courage. In December 2014, she announced she was moving from the opposition to join the ruling party, the Union for the Republic, where she felt she could be more effective in contributing to the country's progress. This led in 2011 to her appointment as the IUCN's Goodwill Ambassador for Central and West Africa. When elections were again held in 2009, she became a senator for the opposition Ech-Choura party where she was given special responsibilities for the environment. She was elected a senator in 2007, the first politician in her caste, but was arrested the following year after a coup d'état. Her fourth album, Knou (2014), includes lyrics expressing her views on human rights and women's place in society.Īlongside her singing, Malouma has also fought to safeguard her country's music, urging the government to create a music school, forming her own foundation in support of musical heritage, and in 2014 creating her own music festival. After the ban was finally lifted, she relaunched her singing and recording career, gaining popularity, particularly among the younger generation. Appearing on television with songs addressing highly controversial topics such as conjugal life, poverty and inequality, she was censored in Mauritania in the early 1990s but began to perform abroad by the end of the decade. She developed her own style combining traditional music with blues, jazz, and electro. After being forced into marriage while still a teenager, Malouma had to give up singing until 1986.
Though an immediate success, it caused an outcry from the traditional ruling classes. Her first song "Habibi Habeytou" harshly criticized the way in which women were treated by their husbands. Raised in the south-west of the country by parents versed in traditional Mauritanian music, she first performed when she was twelve, soon featuring in solo concerts. Malouma Mint El Meidah ( Arabic: المعلومة منت الميداح, also simply Maalouma or Malouma ( / m ɑː l oʊ m ɑː/) born October 1, 1960) is a Mauritanian singer, songwriter and politician.