Afropop Worldwide

Text and photos by Banning Eyre

Well, Dakar is certainly living up to its reputation: a city of non-stop action and creative zest with more live music on the menu than any one human being, or two, could possibly absorb. Sean Barlow and I arrived on maybe four hours sleep and dove right in, visiting one of the most active studios in the city, Studio La Boutique. The owner, Pape Armand Boye, greeted us cheerfully and regaled us with stories of all the major artists who have recorded there. Youssou N’Dour himself had been there laying down new vocal tracks just the day before.

As we arrived, the duo Marietou et Diango were just finishing up a session. Hailing from Mali and Casamance, these two fall very much on the folkloric side of things. They treated us to a short, sweet performance, Marietou singing with full griot range—gentle whisper to gale-force belting—accompanied by Diango on his double-necked ngoni lute.

Part of our mission in Senegal is to make arrangements for our Afropop Music Tour here in 2027. (Alas the tour is already sold-out, but 2028 is a distinct possibility…). For that, we need a fixer, someone who knows the musicians, has their respect, and their contact numbers, and is fully immersed in the scene. Enter Souleymane Kane, a man who has worn many hats over the decades, everything from festival organizing to mentoring. Our first meeting was fantastic and we found the energy to catch a Tuesday night Jazz Jam at a club called Just For You. This nightspot has been closed for four years, but recently reopened, and it’s hosting stars like Omar Pene, Coumba Gawlo Seck, Orchestra Baobab and Positive Black Soul. We’ll be back!

A daytime city tour took us to the towering Mosque de la Divinité and the Museum of Black Civilization, an ambitious corrective to blinkered colonial history, restoring the proper role of African and Africans in human history. Structured around a massive, metallic sculpture of a baobab tree, the first two floors present the permanent exhibit and, at the moment, four rotating art exhibits upstairs. It’s a most impressive museum, a must-see for any Dakar visit.

I split off from the tour to visit the studio of Stereo Africa where I met rising star singer/songwriter/bandleader Sahad, who has just released his fourth album, African West Station. Sahad has a punchy, pan-African sound, heavily influenced by Fela’s Afrobeat and other brassy takes on African pop. Watch this site for our interview. The man has a lot to say, and the music is hot.

Then it was off to the suburb of Malika Place for dinner with the one and only Cheikh Lô, who recently celebrated 50 years in music. He greeted us graciously, steel-string electric Gaudin guitar in hand. Cheikh is one of Senegal’s greatest and most subtle singers, but he started out as a drummer and still often begins his set on drum kit. These days, he’s polishing up his guitar chops with those exquisitely long fingers. We had a fine meal with two of his children Massamba, now in the band and managing his dad, and Kira, 23, studying law. There was camel on the menu!

Cheikh has a show Saturday night, and it will be a real treat to see him with his full Senegalese band.

Our hunt for more music brought us back to the music and restaurant rich Almadies neighborhood. We started out at an informal jam session in a friendly little night spot. Our goal was to catch young mbalax star Momo Dieng at Barra Mundi. The show was billed to start at 11, but we know that live music in Dakar often starts very late. That said, it was a shock to arrive at half-past-midnight to find not a single client in the club, and the staff just starting to set up the tables. Jet lag did not allow for a wait, but we heard later that the music started just after 2AM. We’ll have another chance to see Momo, Insha Allah, as the saying goes, if God wills it.

Today, we spent much of the day at another busy studio run for the past 18 years by keyboardist and producer Papis Konate. We burst in on a recording session for a young, female mbalax singer Dieyla. The whole band was crammed into three rooms and cooking! Mbalax, if you don’t know is supercharged, highly percussive music with thrilling dance rhythms that might take some getting used to for outsiders. But it remains the most popular music in Senegal, and the genre most identified with the country, largely thanks to its champion Youssou N’Dour. Dieyla was singing rough tracks her husband/collaborator cradling a microphone and their baby at her side, a most intimate scene!

We sat for four interviews, with Papis, Dieyla, a highly in-demand arranger from Benin, Jean Mermoz, who has made Dakar his home for 10 years, and finally, one of the most successful mbalax singers of the generation after Youssou, Pape Diouf. Pape is a live wire in conversation and we’ll see how that energy transfers to the stage on February 14, when we return from Casamance.

We had great luck with live music this night, starting with a dinner concert from a much-talked-about singer called Salihou Jam. Salihou began his set in soul mode, channeling Sam Cooke with remarkable effect. Before long, one felt the Stevie Wonder vibe as well, but Salihou was just getting started. The set veered into reggae, jazz, and eventually, mbalax, which had many in the room up and dancing. It was a brilliantly orchestrated set by a truly masterful vocalist. His version of a Youssou N’Dour favorite, “Kila Done Topato,” brought the house down.

The venue for this one is Bazoff, a creole restaurant/music venue with a distinctive New Orleans feel, both in menu—featuring gombo, red rice and beans, as well as local Senegalese dishes—and the music, which tends in the jazz direction. Both food and music were excellent.

Then it was back to Just For You to hear Zale Seck and a full-on mbalax band. Zale has made his home in Montreal for the past 10 years. For this home visit, he had pulled together a who’s who of mbalax freelance musicians. Souleymane Kane knew them all and pointed out that musicians at this level don’t tend to stick with one band. They might be playing jazz with one group on Friday, and hardcore mbalax with another the next.

Souleymane compiles a list of live acts for each weekend. He is diligent, calling managers and clubs to confirm, as programs can change on a dime. It’s a Sisyphean task he’s taken on, but so important. And it is almost impossible to believe the number of fantastic musicians performing all over this city on weekend nights. We’ve got some tough choices ahead of us. More to come…

Special thanks to the folks who helped us pull this Senegal trip together, Ashley Maher, Dudu Sarr, Lucy Duràn, Pape Amande Boye, Papis Konate, Souleymane Kane and Octavio Fleury. We could not have done it without you!