Dimi's parents were both musicians (her father had been asked to compose the Mauritanian national anthem), and she began playing at an early age. Her professional career began in 1976, when she sang on the radio and then competed, the following year, in the
Umm Kulthum Contest in
Tunis. Her winning song "Sawt Elfan" ("Art's Plume") has the refrain ''"Art's Plume is a balsam, a weapon and a guide enlightening the spirit of men"'', which can be interpreted to mean that artists play a more important role than warriors in society. Her first international release was on the
World Circuit record label, following a recommendation from
Ali Farka Touré. On this album, she was accompanied by her husband Khalifa Ould Eide and her two daughters. Later she composed famous and popular Mauritanian songs like "Hailala" and "Koumba bay bay". She died on June 4, 2011, in
Casablanca, Morocco following a stage accident in
Aioun ten days earlier when she was singing for Sahrawi public. Dimi in her lifetime had toured African countries widely, Europe in (1989) and (2006) respectively, the United States (US) in (1993), Australia in (2009). Her death was described as "a national loss" by
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the former
President of Mauritania. ==Discography==