Tag: Guinea Bissau

Guinea-Bissau’s songbird

Renowned Guinea-Bissauan singer Eneida Marta speaks and sings spectacularly in nine native languages – Fula, Biafada, Bijago, Mandjak, Mankanya, Futa Fula, Balanta, Papel and Mandinga. She is well known for infusing her roots into each song, from the lyrics to the language to the instruments. Marta uses traditional instruments like the tchifre cow horn, the onomatopoeic bumbulum tree trunk drum and the tina (made from a wine barrel cut in two, immersed in water and played only by women). She has released three albums to date.