This 'I Love You Inna' may be our first acquaintance with the oeuvre of the young Malian guitar virtuoso Oumar Konaté, but it's already his fifth album for the American Clermont Music label. With a sound that seems to be aimed at Malian youngsters, Oumar is already a true superstar in his own country. Just like on his previous albums, for this 'I Love You Inna' Oumar got the support of bass player Dramane Toure (former lead guitarist with Malian diva Khaira Arby) and drummer/percussionist Makan Camara. In terms of content, Oumar's songs range from light-footed love songs like the catchy title track 'I Love You Inna' or opener 'Houndia' ("Gao runs full of beautiful girls!"), over dance tracks like 'Oumar Bakoi' or 'Zankai Hora', to socio-political statements like 'Wa Toto' ("It's time to rebuild our country!") and the reggae-flavored 'Almounakaf' ("You who brought terror and destruction to our country, get out of here!"). On 'I Love You Inna' you won't find any disappointing songs, but Oumar truly excels when he can make his guitar weep, like in the aforementioned 'Almounakaf', 'Koima Djine' (in which Konaté calls on the djinns of Koïma, a village in Gao on the Niger River, to bring rain), or even the heavily rock-flavored 'Ni Tchilla Sibara' ("there's nobody like you"). One thing is certain: with Oumar Kounaté, the future of Malian music is assured!