2. Biography Born in October 1959 in Dakar, Senegal Mother was a griot (a community historian and storyteller) Began singing at ceremonial parties as a child performed for large audiences by age 14 formed band “Etoilede Dakar: (Star of Dakar) in 1979 1984; has toured the United States and Europe and participated in Amnesty International’s “Human Rights Now!” world tour Owner of the Jololi Label in 1990
3. Music Genre Youssou N'Dour plays mbalax, which is essentially Senegalese pop music. N'Dour is primarily a singer and percussionist, and he uses African, Afro-Caribbean, and Western pop music in his compositions. His musical explorations have influenced nearly every living Senegalese musician, and most modern African musicians outside of Senegal as well N’Dour’s take on mbalax features a rhythmic dance band consisting of as many as 14 members, including multiple percussionists, guitarists, saxophonists, and backing vocalists
4. Personal Messages Woven into His Music N'Dour is also capable of writing and performing songs with a personal lyric content, songs about his old neighborhood and childhood pals, about the youth of his country, and about roaming the countryside with a friend. N'Dour calls his music "African storytelling on the wings of 21st-century instrumentation,“ N'Dour is among the most popular practitioners of a Senegalese form of music called mbalax, which features the heavy rhythms normally associated with the indigenous mbung mbung drum, kora, harp, and balafon xylophone instead being performed by electric guitars and keyboards. Mbalax also employs the traditional Senegalese vocal methods of tassou and bakou; which, respectively, resemble Western rap and rhythm-and-blues vocal techniques.
