Fulani Song

This gathering of gorgeous african women, singing out their souls to the great blue sky, is filled with so much love and subtle beauty that even the delicate butterflies descend from the trees to join this powerful procession in its afternoon adoration of creation. As you stand and watch, your skin begins to feel electrified and you are uncontrollably filled with a sense of appreciation for everything you see. Fula people are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. Fula people form a minority in every country they inhabit, but in Guinea they represent a plurality of the population (40%). The people who are known to English speakers as Fulani refer to themselves as Fulɓe. While in Nigeria, the Fulani are often categorized with the Hausa as a conglomerated ethnic group Hausa-Fulani, since following the Fulani War their histories in the region have been largely intertwined, outside Nigeria the two groups are usually considered distinct. Beginning as early as the 17th and 18th centuries, but mainly in the 19th century, Fulas and others took control of various states in West Africa. The Fula have a rich musical culture and play a variety of traditional instruments including drums, hoddu (a plucked skin-covered lute similar to a banjo) and riti or riiti (a one-string bowed instrument similar to a violin), in addition to vocal music. The well known Senegalese Fula popular musician Baaba Maal sings in Pulaar on his recordings. "Zaghareet" or ululation is a popular form of vocal music formed by rapidly moving the tongue sideways and making a sharp, high sound.