Imarhan were born in Tamanrasset, Algeria, a city where the Tuareg community of Northern Mali, Kel Tamashek people, ended their exile in the early 1990s. Imarhan, meaning “the ones I care about,” started out in 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 brother’s 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.