Imarhan were born in Tamanrasset, Southern Algeria, a city where the Tuareg community of Northern Mali, Kel Tamashek people, ended their exile in the early 1990s, following the multiple struggles they have been experiencing since the 1960s. Imarhan, meaning ‘the ones I care about’, started out around 2008, a loose collection of friends who began to play together under the watchful eye of Sadam’s cousin, Eyadou Ag Leche, bass guitarist of their ‘older brothers’ Tinariwen. Imarhan have a sound that reflects their cultural and generational background; dry guitar riffs, pop melodies and pan-African rhythms which draw on traditional Tuareg music, African ballads and the modern pop and rock the band heard growing up.
