Senegal

In pre-colonial times, the portion of West Africa between the Senegal and Casamance Rivers emerged as an important strategic territory for vast empires intent on controlling trans-Saharan trade. Later, Gorée Island, Senegal's and Africa's western extreme, became the point of departure for the majority of West Africans forcibly exported to the Americas during the brutal era of slavery. The French began and based their West African colonial campaigns in the Senegalese port city of Saint-Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal River. Senegal's first post-Independence president, writer and intellectual Léopold Sédar Senghor, ruled for two decades, maintaining close ties to France and establishing Dakar, the Senegalese capital, as a center of commerce and culture in West Africa.

Senegal's largest ethnic group, the Wolof, have co-existed mostly peacefully with the Fulani, Tukulor, Serer and Jola, although the Malinke in the southern Casamance province have maintained an on-and-off independence struggle that has yet to reach a clear resolution. With that exception, modern Senegal is a substantially stable, prosperous and democratic African nation.

Senegal hosts one of the most developed West African music industries. Senegal's top singer/bandleaders—Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Ismael Lô, Cheikh Lô, and Thione Seck--have earned loyal international followings. Singer Omar Pene with his band Super Diamono is less known around the world, but in Senegal, he shares the exalted upper tier of the country's rich musical pantheon. Most of Senegal's superstars are men, but not all. Kine Lam and Coumba Gawlo Seck are two of the most prominent among many powerful and beloved female singers.

Meanwhile, innovative new artists turn up in the cassette stalls of Dakar's crowded markets all the time. Alioune Kasse, Souleymane Faye, Madou Diabate are but a few of the many names you'll find there. Most of these artists perform in Senegal's pre-eminent music genre, mbalax, which is based in Wolof sabar drumming, an intensely polyrhythmic and dynamic expression. Electric guitars and keyboards mimic and amplify these rhythms in mbalax making it one of the most exhilarating of all modern Afropop styles. Mbalax came of age in the '70s, eventually supplanting the classic, Afro-Cuban influenced music that had dominated the scene during the early years of independence. With its almost fierce presentation of African roots, and its ecstatic dance energy, the music became an important vehicle for exploring serious themes and issues in the context of popular celebration.

The rise of mbalax helped to generate a stable of immensely talented musicians in Dakar, and they have continued to innovate. For example, Super Diamono's veteran guitar ace Lamine Faye—one of four legendary musical brothers in the city—now heads Lemzo Diamono, a crossover band with a driving, rock-oriented sound. Another trailblazer, Demba Dia, incorporated heavy-metal influences in the sound he called "rock mbalax"—not profound, but a big hit with Dakar youth. Another Super Diamono veteran, percussionist Thio Mbaye worked with producer Ibrahima Sylla to record the hard-hitting Rimbax, which veers between mbalax, traditional sabar tracks, and the Senegalese rap style called tassou that began to emerge in the early '90s.

In recent years, Senegal has become perhaps the most active and productive laboratory for the massive African hip-hop movement. Positive Black Soul was among the first to achieve prominence when they collaborated with Baaba Maal in 1994. PBS remains active, but now, there are many rap and hip-hop acts in Dakar, mixing traditional sounds from various ethnic groups with heavy dance beats and hard-hitting—mostly positive—social commentary. Senegal's MC Solar made his break in France in the '90s with a cool, whispery take on the genre; and the dancehall reggae-inflected group Daara J won more recent international success, but Dakar's new crop, led by acts like Pee Foiss and Sen Kumpa, are now ascendant back in Senegal.

Meanwhile, there are comebacks. After a 15 year pause, the greatest of Senegal's salsa bands, Orchestra Baobab, reunited in 2000 and are now among the most celebrated African acts on the international scene. Mining their large repertoire from the 70s, this band delivers a blend of star vocal talent, sensuous Latin grooves and rich elements from Wolof, Fula, Mande and other West African cultures that still sounds fresh and relevant all these years later. The group has been active ever since with their positive take on rap.

And there are other veterans at work reinvigorating Senegal's music scene. Once a singer in the innovative '70s band Xalam, Souleymane Faye now has a strong solo career, and in a departure from the customary standoffishness among competing stars, Souleymane has collaborated with star singers Cheikh Lô and Coumba Gawlo Seck. Ex-Super Etoile drummer Pape Dieng has joined the growing ranks of Dakar producers, turning out superior mbalax releases for Thione Seck and relative newcomer Khar M'Baye Maddiaaga, a female griot singer whose melismatic voice recalls gravel-throated flamenco singers. But despite competition from Khar and Coumba, the grand lady of Senegalese pop remains Kine Lam, a booster of traditional culture who roared onto the pop scene in the '80s and now records both acoustic traditional records and state-of-the-art mbalax.

Dakar has one of the most prolific recording industries in Africa and some of the best musical nightlife anywhere. Music piracy remains a serious problem, but one that is out in the open and very much part of public and political discourse. Meanwhile, live music is thriving in the city with Youssou N'Dour's Thiosane nighclub and the Kilimanjaro, the favorite roost of Thione Seck, among the preferred destinations for the city's devoted, music loving public. – Banning Eyre, Courtesy Afropop Worldwide: www.afropop.org