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Habib Koite is one of the leading figures in a second wave of Malian musicians, following the likes of Salif Keïta, Oumou Sangare and Ali Farka Toure. Koite and his band, Bamada, draw on the percussive strengths of the tamani (talking drums). Koité intentionally blends Western song structures with the sound of the Tuareg musicians of North Africa. Bamada (the name means "crocodile's snout") aims to break the barriers between European and African music, and between the divisions caused by caste and class in Mali itself. - J. Millard