Annane Sy Cissé is a young musician from the region of Tombouctou in Mali. He started in music as an engineer and session guitarist for local traditional artists from the north of Mali. He self-produced his first album for the Malian market in 2010 and toured in Mali (Revelation artist of the 2009 Festival au Desert in Essakane, Tombouctou). When civil unrest started in January 2012, he went south to Bamako and kept working for many artists in his home studio and concentrated on his new album project with the cream of young Malian musicians - Dramane Touré (Khaira Arby), Djimé Sissoko (Samba Touré, Djama Djigui, Black Machine) - and with sokou maestro Zoumana Téréta (Oumou Sangaré, Samba Touré, Djénéba Seck, Amadou & Mariam...). He plays a traditional Songhai and Fulani style mixed with a lot of Western influences such as '70s rock with guitars and Malian traditional instruments (Ngoni, Sokou, Calabash...). In August 2013, he won World Music Network's "Battle of the Bands" with his song 'Baala' and will feature in a future WMN album.