Youssou N'Dour

Senegal's Youssou N'Dour is, perhaps, the biggest name in world music. Now 40, his eerie voice, high and keening, has barely lost a step from when he burst on the scene in his homeland in 1979 with the hit "Xalis." But in the two decades since his audience, and to an extent his music has become global. The mbalax music he created at the beginning of the ‘80s, a juddering modern mix of local and Cuban rhythms, with dashes of reggae and Western pop for seasoning, made him Senegal's biggest star - a status he's kept ever since. In 1983, Peter Gabriel heard and loved N'Dour's song "Immigres," and began championing the African. The two toured and recorded together, and the exposure introduced N'Dour's music to an international audience.

The Lion (Virgin, 1989) marked him as someone to watch, but it was with Wommat - The Guide (Sony/Work, 1994), and its massive hit single, "7 Seconds," a duet with British singer/rapper Neneh Cherry, that N'Dour hit the big time. And for six years after that, although N'Dour continued to recorded at perform at home, releasing cassettes at home on his Jololi label, there's been international silence, at least until earlier this year. Then N'Dour released Joko - From Village to Town in Europe. While it contained some rootsy material, there was an emphasis on duets with Sting, Gabriel, and The Fugees' Wyclef Jean, who also contributed some remixes. That disc was never released in America. However, N'Dour now has a new label, Nonesuch, which has issued Joko (The Link). Shoter, and decidedly more African, it's ditched most of the duets and the remixes, and added two more very Senegalese tracks, "Miss" and the brand new, hardcore mbalax of "Mademba (The Electricity Is Out Again)."

"I tried to recreate the history of my own music on this record."

The tracks have also been re-sequenced to give a much richer feel to the listening experience. The son of a mechanic and a griot (a singing mix of oral historian, praise-giver, and adviser), N'Dour grew up in the rough Medina section of Dakar, Senegal's capital. Even when young, he sang locally, creating a sensation with his vocal ability, and by the time he was 16, he was one of the singers with the Star Band, one of Senegal's seminal groups. Leaving them, he joined Etoile de Dakar, before forming his own Super Etoile de Dakar, whose personnel has remained remarkably stable for almost two decades, with guitarist Jimi Mbaye and bassist Habib Faye at the core of the exciting sound. Like many Senegalese, N'Dour is follower of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, the late Senegalese-Muslim saint who brought the Africanized Islam of Mouridism to the country, and spirituality has long been an important part of his music, along with the more traditional griotism; indeed, the two find a common home in the celebratory "Birima," for several years the centerpiece of N'Dour's live set. But as his horizons have expanded, so has his music.

While still based in Africa, it looks outward around the world, as on "This Dream," his collaboration with Peter Gabriel, and his work with artists from Paul Simon to jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis. N'Dour keeps his roots strong, but the frontiers have come down. The magazine Folk Roots crowned him Africa's Artist of the Century, and African journal Nouvel Horizon named him Senegalese Person of the Century. His impact has been, and remains, undeniable, and, in spite of the long silence, his creativity hasn't dried up. And the wondrous voice remains as powerful as ever.

Q: Why has it taken so long for this album to appear. It's been six years since the huge success of Wommat - The Guide. It's almost as if you retreated from the possibility of being a big star in the West.

A: After Wommat - The Guide, which was very successful everywhere, it took me a long time to digest that. I toured, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew what the album was about. And after that, I had different projects. I produced the music for a film, and then produced albums by other people like Cheikh Lo. So the time passed almost before I know it, and that's why it took me so long to come out with another album.

Q: You've continued to release cassettes in Senegal. Why do you feel the need to produce different work for home and abroad?

A: I think it's necessary because different people have a different understanding of my music. At home I use mbalax, and people relate to that; it's what they want. But when I do something for the rest of the world, it has to be softer; they don't understand it the same way, and I have to win them over, make them my audience. Joko (The Link) is actually very close to the roots of the whole Senegal - I've used a lot of rhythms from the south of the country like djambaadong. I want people to be more aware of what makes up Africa, not just Dakar. I tried to recreate the history of my own music on this record. It went from Dakar, to the sounds I hear in Paris, to the sounds I hear in New York. It moves outward.

Q:Why the changes in the record between Joko -From Village to Town to Joko (The Link)?

A: I love the difference between the two albums. The change in the title wasn't important for me. If anything, The Link made it more mysterious, so maybe that helps people to feel me better. I want it to be the way I've always done things - that people will look forward to things. In a lot of ways, there's not much difference between the two albums. The record companies felt some of the tracks needed to be on the European album and not the American, so that's what I did.

Q: "Miss" was on your Senegal cassette Special Fin d'Annee. Is this a new recording of the song?

A: No, it's the same recording, just a different mix from the Senegal release.

Q: Going back, you essentially created mbalax, and for 20 years, you've been Senegal's biggest star. Does that bring responsibilities?

A: I never felt like I was creating mbalax - the music just happened, and I went with the flow of it. What I really want is to bring happiness with my music. Music is part of life. I belong to my public, and they're proud of my music. The music I make, that people hear around the world, helps show Senegal is about, that they don't regard life as a life of problems, that they can enjoy themselves.

Q:You've given a lot back to Senegalese music, helping younger artists like Cheikh Lo and others, as well as opening Xippa, your recording studio. Are you encouraged by the musicians coming up? Do you learn from them?

A: I've learned a lot from the new artists I see. Life is a school. Encouraging these artists has taught me a great deal; it's a way for me to learn new musical techniques and all the new things happening in Senegal and around the world.

Q:Some of the members of your band also play with smaller groups around Dakar. Does that also help you stay in touch with what's happening in the country?

A: I create the influence in Senegalese music. My group brings more to others, than we take from the. The Super Etoile is more an institution than anything. People learn from us, and I'm proud of that.

Q: These days you could make your home anywhere in the world, but you choose to remain based in Dakar. And why is it very important to you to remain so rooted?

A: I decided to stay in Dakar because I feel better there, and my music feels better there. My friends and my family are there. I don't live in Medina 24/7 any more, but I go there often, to spend time with my friends and hang out there. If I'd left Dakar, my music wouldn't be the same, and that's the main thing.

Q:You've called yourself a modern griot, and you are in fact half-griot on your mother's side.

A: While I was growing up, neither my father nor my mother wanted me to do the traditional griot things, all the ceremonies and the learning. But at the same time I was confronted with these two different cultures. I was singing from when I was very young, and I learned the griot tradition from my siblings, who were also half-griot, and they showed me the traditional ways. I didn't apply it until later on in my life. So while it was part of my life, but I didn't use. The traditional griot experiences the griot life on a day to day basis. It's who he is, completely. The modern griot has that, but also everything else from life is equally important, and you mix the two. And that's who I am.

Q: And what effect has griotism had on your music?

A: The griot singing style is singing with your soul, and that's what I learned. I try to apply it to my own music. When I'm singing a song, I try to relate the story by respecting the ancient storylines, the references, and also the cautions about modern life.

Q: You've said your religion is cultural, and like so many Senegalese, you're a follower of Chiekh Amadou Bamba. Is that spirituality there in your music, alongside the traditional griotism?

A: Yes, I believe in something. Islam is a complete religion. It was promoted in Africa by a few believers, like Cheik Amadou Bamba. I don't see Islam as a fundamentalist religion. It has a base, it's something you understand, and something you relate to; I relate to it, it's a part of me. It was very important a century ago, and it's still important. We all relate to it, and it's a part of our everyday lives. That's how religion is cultural to us, and so, since it's always there, it becomes a part of the music.

Q: "Red Clay" seems a very positive, hopeful piece for the future.

A: I'm a very positive person anyway. But it's about the way the world sees Africa, as if we're somehow backward. We're not. With this new opening up of the world, the globalism, and the access of things like the Internet, and this new youth that wants to know about everything, I want to show people that we want to become like everyone else, to be a part of the world. We're a continent that's rich in culture and everything else. So why should we be left behind?

Q:You'll be touring north America again soon, for the first time in a few years. What should audiences look forward to, apart from songs from the new album?

A: We'll be playing songs from Joko (The Link), but it won't just be that. It'll be a Youssou N'Dour concert. I'll be the same person I've always been, and we'll be playing songs from the whole history of the band. My main aim is to leave the stage and see everybody smiling.

This article first appeared on sonicnet.com