Benn loxo listener, David, exposed my North African musical ignorance by pointing out that I had forgotten all about Tunisian singer and actress, Amina. I think this will probably be the first (and last?) time I feature a Eurovision contestant on Benn loxo, but for the sake of not leaving Tunisia out of the African World Cup round-up let’s go for it.

Amina’s song, Ya Baba, reminds me of dancing very late at night at the Koul Graoul parties in Dakar, Senegal. From 2am until dawn we’d be blessed and cursed with a mix of Lebanese pop, Senegalese mbalax break-downs, coupé-décalé, old school hiphop, top 50 American rnb hits and North African party songs. Koul Graoul was and maybe still is always a hilarious mix of people from various parts of urban Dakar society. If I met any of you there 2003-2005 I apologize in advance for my dancing.

A Google search of Amina Annabi brings up a remarkable amount of references to nude stills from her films. However, there’s more to her than her… beautiful face. She’s recorded many albums over the years and has acted in many films. She’s also the quintessential example of a 1980s world music success story. Sometime around the mid-80s the European market started really getting into the sounds of the Middle East and Africa and Amina was the focus of much attention.

I grabbed both of today’s tracks off her best of, Nomad.

ps- Allez les Elephants! I just watched them down Serbia-Montenegro in Munich. I’m soaking wet from the rain but had fun watching all those goals. Too bad they’re out, but let’s all get behind Ghana and hope for the best.

Amina – Ya Baba
Amina – Ederlezi