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Lynda Balloni
Dr. John Shoup
HUM 2371: Popular Culture in Africa
15 December 2014
Senegalese Rap
A caste of musicians responsible for speaking about society through their lyrics known as
griots are a pivotal part of Senegalese culture, but over the last three decades, the youthful
generations in Senegal have established their own new version of this responsibility by
appropriating part of American culture into their own, the art of rap music (Platis). Senegalese
rap is known for its political nature and has built up into a widespread scene since its beginnings
in the country in the early 1980s. Today, the nongovernmental organization Enda Tiers Monde
estimates there to be about 3,000 rap groups and solo artists throughout Senegal, representing
how deeply this cultural phenomenon has affected young Senegalese. Even though rap
represents the voice of a new era in Senegal, many musicians incorporate traditional Senegalese
instruments like the kora, djembe, balaphone, and xalam into their sound. Senegalese rap is
divided into two distinct types – one that utilizes these instruments as well as fuse other genres
like reggae and soul into their sound and that which is known as hardcore rap and stays true to a
more characteristic (American) hip hop sound. Overall, rap in Senegal is known for being
“Afrocentric and moralistic, denouncing injustice, corruption, scheming politicians and the abuse
of power” (“Popular Music in Senegal: Hip Hop or Rap”).
Rap first came to Senegal around the year 1982 at about the same time that this genre of
music reached Europe. Its popularity started to grow in 1984 at nightclubs in Dakar where
breakdancing, as well as the music and fashion trends that are associated with it, became popular.
The breakdance craze represented a switch from an interest in French to American popular

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culture in Senegal, and many breakdance crews took on American names such as the
African/Bronx City Youngsters (A.B.C.Y.) from Dakar. These breakdance crews would give
live performances which included covering popular American rap hits at the time like the Sugar
Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message”.
The breakdancing trend was rather short lived in Senegal, but it sparked the popularity of rap
music in the country, which has grown exponentially since its initial introduction, as well as a
fascination with Black American culture in general throughout the country’s youth (Herson 28).
Lack of access to affordable recording studios poses a problem for rappers and musicians
in general in Senegal. There are two high quality recording studios in Dakar: Studio 2000 and
Studio Xippi (owned by the renowned artist Yossou N’Dour), but they are too expensive for
most Senegalese musicians. The musicians who cannot afford to record their music in these
pricey domestic studios or the like in Europe record in independent or home studios which do not
produce as polished of a sound as their counterparts. The Senegalese rapper Xuman has
commented on the issue of recording music in Senegal, accounting “unfortunately in Senegal it
takes six months to a year to make an album. By that time, the songs are no longer new when
they come out” ("Senegalese Rapper, Makhtar “Xuman” Fall, Throws Down World News In
Rhyme"). Another problem that was specific to Senegalese rappers when the music first reached
the country was a lack of electronic equipment such as drum machines, samplers, and MIDI-
controlled sequencers which are pivotal to the distinctive sound of American rap, but were not
used by Senegalese musicians prior to rap’s appearance on the scene. Even studios that had this
type of equipment often lacked producers with the knowledge of how to work it, so as a result
early Senegalese rap often sounded flat compared to the beats used in its American counterpart
(30).

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In addition to their issues with where to record, Senegalese rappers are also posed with
the problem of how to effectively distribute their music. Radio has been incredibly important to
the spread of rap music since radio stations abound in Senegal and unlike CDs and cassette tapes,
it is free for its listeners. Unfortunately for the musicians, pirated cassettes are also a common
way for rap music to spread (29). Not only do Senegalese people find alternative ways for
listening to rap to purchasing it from the actual musicians, but 90% of Senegalese rap album
sales are domestic, so total album revenues are abysmal and musicians experience very little
support from the international community. To create economic opportunities for himself and
fellow musicians, the rapper Bigga organizes live rap music in his local community center every
weekend. In order to see a bigger profit, gain international recognition, and have access to
higher quality recording equipment, some Senegalese rappers, most notably Daara J and the
group Positive Black Soul, will sign to international record labels, but these musicians are
sometimes viewed as sellouts by fans of hardcore rap (33). Senegalese rappers are forced to be
creative with the production and/or distribution of their music if they wish to be economically
successful.
Multilingualism plays a very important role in Senegalese rap, and the language used can
sometimes determine the musicians’ audience. The rap group and artist listed at the end former
paragraph often rap in French or English and tend to write lyrics about global or pan-African
issues, while hardcore rappers stick to Wolof and focus on issues that are specific to Senegal
(33). The lyrics written in Wolof are sometimes so specific to Senegalese issues that it is
difficult to translate them into other languages. These musicians’ use of language, as well as
their refusal to play into stereotypical “African-ness” with the sound of their music (by using
traditional Senegalese instruments which soften the sound and make it more saleable) generally

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makes it difficult for them to reach commercial success outside of Senegal (34). Some rappers
who use Wolof, most notably President J, actually change the pronunciation of words to make
them sound similar to English, making it difficult for even Senegalese people to understand
them. President J has been condemned for this technique since his critics argue that he sounds
exactly like Tupac Shakur and accuse him of ripping off Pac’s sound (31).
The Senegalese youth are known for voicing their displeasure during times of economic,
social, and political crisis, and rap has provided a new outlet for this form their expression (26).
Rap became more widespread in Senegal in part due to issues with the countries education
system. In 1988 and 1989, school strikes and riots which caused many schools to temporarily
shut down generated more free time for Senegalese students. During this period, some students
would rap to fill their days and as an outlet to express their distaste for their president at the time,
Abdou Diouf, who was in the forefront of their minds since 1988 was also an election year (28).
The tradition of using rap to express problems with the government has continued and
grown in the twenty-first century. Senegalese people are generally very proud of their country,
but it is because they define it based on the negative things Senegal does not have (coups and
wars) that many other West African countries do, rather than by what they do have. In 2011 and
2012, the Senegalese youth (who make up most of the country’s population, with an average age
of only nineteen) were fed up with the stable but stagnant state of their economy, and this feeling
was exacerbated by days of blackouts that were occurring in Dakar as well. Rappers who
experienced this period of increased political and social awareness were encouraged by an
undisclosed local journalist to take action against the cause of their frustration. In the words of
the rapper Djily, “they were writing about it, we were rapping about it, so it got time for us to do
something about it” (Howden).

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These politically aware rappers started a movement amongst the Senegalese youth called
“Y’En a Marre”, roughly translated to “fed up” or “enough is enough”. The core part of the
movement was against President Abdoulaye Wade, who had promised to follow Senegal’s
constitution and only run for two terms, but instead chose to run a third time, and the
constitutional court failed to block his decision. He was on record of quoting an old Wolof
saying to justify running again, translated to “I’ve said it and now I’m unsaying it”. The rappers
involved in the “Y’En a Marre” movement released a compilation album titled “You can’t force
it” that articulated their frustrations. They also organized peaceful protests which led President
Wade to temporarily ban any and all rallies. Rappers Kilifeu and Simon were arrested at one of
such events, but then they were released after 48 hours (the longest amount of time Senegalese
police can hold someone without charging them). “Y’En a Marre” refused to field their own
candidate for the election since they vowed not to become “ministers or mayors” and even
denied their endorsement to any of the twelve men who were running in the election. Wade was
the favorite to win the race, but he was ousted by current President Macky Sall, perhaps at least
in part due to the work of “Y’En a Marre” (Howden).
Rap in Senegal was initially a way for Senegalese youth to address modern societal
problems by appropriating part of American culture and setting themselves apart from traditional
cultural practices (Herson 25). However, since it reached Senegal, rap has achieved wider
respect and appreciation amongst its population than in the United States, where it still exists as
one factor that often divides the population in terms of age, race, sex, and location (Platis).
Rap’s roots in Senegal are very different than its origins in the United States. In Senegal, it was
first practiced by affluent teenagers at Sacre-Coeur high school in Dakar who liked to imitate
American trends, rather than poor disenfranchised youth in the Bronx (“Popular Music in

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Senegal: Hip Hop or Rap”). Senegalese rap lyrics have also taken on different subject matter
than the words of mainstream and most underground American rappers. Rather than writing
about money, drugs, women, and beef with other rappers, these Senegalese artists fit in more
with socially conscious American rappers such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and the group Public
Enemy than any of whom have achieved more commercial success. Senegalese rappers hone in
on political, social and economic issues like crime, corruption, HIV/AIDS, poverty, and ethnic
strife, which play into their respect from a more extensive group of people than the majority of
their American counterparts (Platis).
One aspect of American rap culture Senegalese rap did absorb was its fashion, and
particularly the more recent phenomenon of bragging about one’s wealth through clothes rather
as well as words. Like most places in the world today, the main factors in determining
someone’s level of success in Senegal are their income and wealth. Similar to the situation in the
United States, rap in Senegal has pushed the significance of money even further by making it
important to not only have money, but to display it as well (Herson 32). Senegalese people also
tend to be self-conscious about being viewed as a third world country, and their adaption of
American rap culture provides one way for them to appear more modern. Despite its popularity
throughout Senegal, Senegalese rap music has yet to take off on the international market, but rap
enthusiast and director Bill Herson believes it has the potential to hit the mainstream music
market in the near future. He sees African rap stars who achieve success in Europe and the
United States as foreshadowing for the upcoming success of rappers in Senegal and throughout
Africa and “he adds that African hip-hop just needs one ‘breakout star’ to escape from the ‘world
music’ label and cross over to the mainstream. ‘It could be similar to what happened with
reggae,’ he says. ‘It was seen as this other sort of music, and then Bob Marley became a pop

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star. He made the local seem universal’ (Harding).” For the sake of the talented but
underappreciated rappers in Senegal, one can only hope that Herson’s prediction will come true
and Senegalese rappers can experience more international exposure and success.
In order assist the careers of African musicians and address some of the concerns that
face these musicians today and have been addressed in this paper, The African, Caribbean, and
Pacific (ACP) Cultures Program conducted the second Salon International de le Musique
Africaine (SIMA) from November 20-22 (2014) in Dakar this year. SIMA gives a mission
statement that proclaims “the first forum of its kind, the SIMA, the International Exhibition of
African Music, aims to respond to the needs identified by professionals of African Music; that is
to strengthen the African music market, promote and export the artists within Africa and outside
of Africa” (“About SIMA”). The exhibition was free to enter and featured performances from
twenty musicians from all around the continent who were hoping to expand their fan base. The
concert’s attendees were mostly Senegalese due to its location, but there were also spectators
from all around the world present. The remainder of this paper will present brief biographies of
four of the Senegalese groups and solo artists who performed at the event and currently hold
varying degrees of fame within Senegal and abroad.
The most famous artist to perform at SIMA closed the last night of the concert with a
lively performance and was clearly the audience’s favorite was the rapper, a musician who goes
by the name of Xuman. Born Makhtar Fall, Xuman has achieved success domestically in
addition to international recognition for his work on the news program “Journal Rappe” with his
partner Cheikh “Keyti” Sene. The show features the duo rapping the news, with Xuman spitting
his summary of a news story in French and Keyti repeating relatively the same lines translated
into Wolof. It airs twice a week on Senegalese television and can also be viewed on YouTube

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and it only lasts for about five minutes. The show has featured guest appearances from
prominent Senegalese rappers Didier Awadi and Duggy Tee, as well as interviews from people
off the street who are invited to rap their opinions ("Senegalese Rapper, Makhtar “Xuman” Fall,
Throws Down World News In Rhyme"). Xuman and Keyti have achieved international
recognition for their show, including stories in the BBC and the New York Times. Hopefully
“Journal Rappe’s” popularity will assist in pushing Senegalese rap closer to the mainstream rap
scene, for the purpose of more of these rappers being able to make a living off of their art.
Nix, born Nicolas Omar Diop in Dakar, is another well-known rapper in Senegal. In
order to have access to his desired recording equipment and to attempt to achieve more
popularity in the international market, he is currently based in France but still raps in Wolof in
addition to French. He started his rap career as a member of the group Kantiolis with his three
friends Ibrahim, Bap’s and Geser, but then went solo in 2003. He collaborated with different
Senegalese rappers in 2005 to release the album “Black Allstars”. His solo albums include
“Black Crystal” (2003), “Rimes de Vie” (2010), “Nixtape” (2012), and “L’Art de Vivre” (2013).
He has received acclamation from critics for his solo work and during the Kantiolis years.
Kantiolis received Best Rap Act award in 1994 and 1995 and Nix took home Best Solo Rap
Artist in 2004 in Senegal’s Hip Hop Awards. He is also appreciated by American and European
musicians and has even performed with Wyclef Jean in the past (Sashajustice).
Ombre Zion is a Senegalese rap and reggae musician who has not yet achieved the level
of fame of Xuman and Nix, but is gaining popularity in Senegal and abroad. He was born in the
Pikine suburbs of Dakar in a neighborhood where music, particularly reggae, was a pivotal part
of the community. He started his career in 1994 by forming a band called Supreme Kadue Magg
with his college friends Jah Man and Tekan and later earned recognition for his solo career in

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2005. Although he has yet to release an album, he has worked with some of the most famous
rappers in Senegal and markets himself by performing at international music festivals including
the World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, the Banlieue Rhythm Festival, and the BEMA
Salam Music Expo Festival (and SIMA, of course). He currently has just shy of 4,000 fans on
Facebook and is expected to release his first album sometime this month.
Takeifa are a Senegalese band formed by a family of 4 brothers and one sister – Jac Keita
as the front man, Cheikh Keita on guitar, Iba Keita on drums, Maama Keita on bass and Fadhal
Keita on backing vocals. Jac instrumented the band’s formation when he started gaining
appreciation for his musical talent in their community when he was only twelve years old. The
band started to achieve success when their family moved to Dakar in 2006 and have since been
able to record their music in France to attain their desired sound. They sing mostly in Europe but
also incorporate French, English, and Spanish lyrics into their sound (“Takeifa”).
Xuman, Nix, Ombre Zion, and Takeifa represent a very small segment of contemporary
Senegalese musicians who are all taking different approaches to combatting the issues facing the
music industry in Senegal. Whether they choose to record in Europe or stay in Senegal, perform
in Wolof, French, English, or some combination of languages, speak specifically about
Senegalese issues or focus on global concerns, these musicians are all searching for ways to
further their own careers while educating and entertaining their listeners. They all share the
responsibility of modern Senegalese musicians in adopting the duty of the griot class while they
chase fame within and outside of Senegal. The problems they face and write about that are
unknown by their foreign counterparts continue to distinguish Senegalese rappers from those
American rappers who inspired their sound, but if they start receiving the attention and acclaim

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they deserve, in the near future rap artists in Senegal will see some of the success of those in
America without having to sacrifice their unique voice.
Works Cited
"About SIMA." SIMA: Salon International De La Musique Africaine. Sacripant. Web. 14 Dec.
2014.
Associated Press. "Senegalese Rapper, Makhtar “Xuman” Fall, Throws Down World News In
Rhyme." RYOT News 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.
Associated Press. "Takeifa." World of Music, Arts and Dance. Womad, Ltd., 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 6
Dec. 2014.
Harding, Cortney. "Dakar Dreaming." Billboard 121.36 (2009). Academic Search Premier:
Music Index. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
Herson, Ben. "A Historical Analyses of Hip-Hop's Influence in Dakar from 1984-
2000."American Behavioral Scientist 55.1 (2011): 24-35. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 5 Dec. 2014.
Howden, Daniel. "Rap Revolution: Voices of Dissent in Senegal." The Independent 20 Feb.
2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
"Ombre Zion Biography." Soundcloud. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

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Platis, Chris. "The Hip Hop Scene in Senegal." Huffington Post 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Dec.
2014.
"Popular Music in Senegal: Hip Hop or Rap." Wolof Resources. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
Sashajustice. "Senegalese Rapper Nix, A Veteran at Staying On Top of the Game." African Hip
Hop, Afrobeat, & Bongo Flava. WordPress, 6 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.