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Summer 2003 in Dakar, Senegal
Afropop correspondent Hadji Sissokho reports on his summer trip home to bustling Dakar, Senegal.
This past summer, Dakar, Senegal, and other places in Africa jammed to the beats of new albums released by Souleymane Faye and Coumba Gawlo Seck, Viviane Ndour, Masane and Abdou Guitte Seck, to name a few. Afropop was present absorbing the scene and all the good music it had to offer.
Senegal is a West African country known for its hospitality and its world renowned artists, such as Youssou N'dour, king of mbalax, and Baaba Maal. While these singers have toured in the U.S. many times, a host of other Dakar-based artists have not had that chance yet. The summer always offers an opportunity for singers and musicians to release new albums with the purpose of making the long hot days more joyful.
This year, Souleymane Faye, AKA Diego, in duet with Coumba Gawlo Seck, a Senegalese diva, regained his place on the Senegalese top10, proving his substantial contribution to the aura of African music. Diego was formerly the lead vocalist for the prestigious band Xalam II, a pioneer in modern Senegalese music. After some years in the dark, Diego seems to be back on track showing that persistence pays off in the end. For Gawlo, this is another step in her ascendant career following her controversial song "Ma Yer Li Ngua Yor," in which she reveals her sensuality. For some Senegalese, unaccustomed to such carefree expression , the song was just obscene. Some would say her new album is an attempt to calm her detractors. Certainly, her new love songs make her seem in the eyes of a conservative audience less of a wild girl.
Aside from these artists, well established on the local scene, a new generation of Senegalese female singers, led by Masane and Viviane Ndour, were performing in Dakar and touring to other regions of Senegal this summer. Both artists exhibited incredible mastery of mbalax, while adding an R&B touch. Masane's presence and poignancy onstage recalls the great Angelique Kidjo of Benin. This 33-year-old diva, who performed recently in South Africa, has significantly gained in maturity since her debut. With her band Waflash, Masane seems headed for a promising career. Her melodies and lyrics have reached heights rarely before heard from Thies, the city she and her musicians call home, located a 60km from Dakar.
Viviane Ndour, who for years backed her brother-in-law Youssou, demonstrates a degree of consistency in the quality of her albums. Her most recent offering, Fee is more than just delightful. By blending mbalax and R&B, she has succeeded in bringing together traditional and modern African music lovers in a symbiosis that is hard to achieve. Her lyrics are also worth listening to. In describing African everyday life, she has come to some powerful thoughts which she often shares with her audience. On her new album, the song "Cucc," which means "Hitting," deals with men who date several women at the same time, and who end up unable to settle down because of their lifestyle. It is the perfect illustration of the maturity she has reached.
For Afropop, the time in Dakar could not have been better for discovering new faces. Talent was everywhere, and so were Senegalese music lovers. They crowded clubs like Yengoulene, Just 4 U, and Central Park among the best lounges in Dakar, places where music lovers can watch a local or international band while enjoying an exotic drink served with tropical dishes. Nightspots Ngalam and DLC, the latter owned by Youssou N'Dour, offer DJ music every night, catering to dance lovers with a compilation of songs selected from a worldwide repertoire.
After three weeks in Senegal I left with the certainty that in the motherland, artists are born every day. All they need is to be heard by the rest of the world!
Contributed by: Hadji Sissokho
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