Chérif Mbaw has the voice of a young Youssou, the guitar of Pape & Cheikh and the feel of Cheikh Lô. In other words, he sounds like everything I like about contemporary Senegalese music.

You might have heard him already Benn loxo. If you didn’t here’s another chance with a track from his first album, Kham Kham, released in 2000 on Erato Disques.

Mbaw come a long way over the years. Born in Ziguinchor then raised in Dakar, he fought his way to the top. After working on his singing for years he earned a spot training with Youssou N’Dour. This led to a grant to go study in Paris but apparently it took him several years to get permission to go to France. Once he finally made it to Paris he had to busk in the metros to pay the bills. These bumps along the road didn’t seem to discourage him: after two successful releases Chérif is now touring with the likes of Amadou & Mariam and Tracy Chapman.

I love these kinds of stories and really I’m looking forward to his next release.

Chérif Mbaw – Kham Kham