We’ve been hearing a lot of classic Congolese music lately. Time to move to other countries and other decades for a few posts.

We’ll head back to contemporary Senegal today. Benn loxo du taccu is a Wolof proverb, afterall…

The other night my friend Laurent, who lived in Senegal for about a decade, gave me a couple mbalax compilations. Most feature songs that were popular while I was living in Dakar and hitting up a lot of mbalax clubs- that’d be around 2002-2004.

Mbalax is always a little shocking for first-time listeners. Laurent and I only brought it out the other night after numerous bottles of wine had been consumed. We’ve discussed many times before on this site how it sounds cheesy at first. Heavy on the synth, frenetic rhythms.. yet strangely addictive and impossible not to dance to once you’ve learned to love the Dakar nightclub scene.

So three tracks today: first a mega-hit by Fatou Laobe that I’m sure you’ll know if you visited Senegal anytime during 2003-2004. The second is a nice one by Sidy Samb, just to show you another style of mbalax (video here). The third is a live recording of Mbaye Dieye Faye with a guest appearance by Youssou Ndour. The crowd really loses their shit over this one.. I love it.

All three come from Mbalax Tarkhiss compilations. They’re some of the better collections of popular music in Senegal. If you hear it at the club, in the taxi or on the radio you’ll soon find it on one of the frequent releases.

ps- check-out the great mbalax dancing in this Fatou Laobe video.

Fatou Laobe - Labat
Sidy Samb - Askan wi
Mbaye Dieye Faye - Deugeula

BBC Sound System are a Senegalese hiphop group based in Paris, France. Their 2003 release, Na Banko, resurfaced in my collection lately thanks to a random shuffle.

Once again I’m reminded how Wolof is a great rapping language.. so angular, filled with rhyming sounds.

Unfortunately it’s not much more than a collection of sounds to my ears; with every passing day my Wolof disappears, word by word. I can still make a Senegalese person laugh when I hear the accent in Paris and respond with a Wolof joke, but that’s about it these days.

Anyway, just a quick post this morning.

BBC Sound System - Kalama

Been busy with the French elections and enjoying the out of control amazing French weather of late. I’m back, though, with about 600 new tracks to dig through, select and post for the Benn loxo crowd.

In 2003, Ben Herson and Daniel Cantor of Nomadic Wax headed to Dakar with a mobile studio. They spread the word that anyone who wanted to lay down a rap track could come record with them.

Three years of post-production later we finally have the second African Underground release from Nomadic Wax, Depths of Dakar.

You might have heard the first African Underground volume on Benn loxo back in May, 2005. This first release was the product of Ben’s 2000 thesis on the influence of hiphop on Senegalese culture. Until recently, it was the easily one the best produced compilations of Senegalese hiphop available.

Since then the production quality of West African hiphop has stepped-up a notch, particularly in places like Senegal and Nigeria. That said, Depths of Dakar continues Nomadic Wax’s tradition of showing us how amazing West African hiphop can sound with the right attention. Many of the rappers featuring on both volumes are previously unknown, young talents on the Dakar scene who shine when mixed with Ben and Daniel’s beats and productions.

Check-out africanunderground.com for more information.

Sen Kumpa - Niawal

Ben Herson, aka Benny Beats, founder of Nomadic Wax, took his mobile studio down to Dakar a few years ago in search of unknown Senegalese MCs.

His African Underground and Mapito recordings are fantastic collections of Senegalese and Tanzanian hiphop. I’ve already featured some on Benn loxo, and I’m sure many of you had a listen. Nomadic Wax’s Democracy in Dakar project about hiphop’s role in the Senegalese elections was also really well put together.

Turns out Ben is a friend of a friend. Hopefully we’ll be linking up this week as he’s coming through Paris to explore the immigration issues surrounding next week’s French elections.. particularly amongst the Senegalese community here.

You can find today’s track, Ben’s mix of a previously unknown Senegalese rapper, Pato, on WorldMusic.NationalGeographic.com’s release, GeoRemixed: Big Beats for a Small Planet.

Pato - Keep It Real (Benny Beats remix)

During all the Kuduro hype started up by Benn loxo contributor, Boima, several people noted that French electro musician and producer Frédéric Galliano has been really active on the Kuduro scene lately. His MySpace page is full of music from his latest project, Kuduro Sound System. (Love that picture of him arm wrestling Dog Murras.)

Galliano’s interest in African music is wide-ranging, and definitely not limited to Kuduro nor Angolan music. He’s traveled and recorded all over the continent and other parts of the globe, including several solid projects with his own label, Frikyiwa, and its mobile studio in Senegal, Guinea and Mali.

This morning I dug-out one of Galliano’s Frikyiwa projects from Senegal, Ali Boulo Santo. This Dakarois musician, son of respected kora player, Soundioulou Cissoko, is part of that new generation of Senegalese musicians sticking to their acoustic, native instruments and then remixing the results.

Ali Boulo Santo - Dame Fall

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

It’s interesting to hear how West African musicians have changed their style over the years. The melodies remain the same, but gone are the synths of yesteryear. World music audiences these days are all about acoustic guitar, djembe and double-bass. They don’t dig the drum machine like they used to.

Listen to early 90s and 80s recordings by musicians like Omar Pene, Salif Keita, Cheikh Lô and even Youssou N’Dour (who admittedly still loves his Casio) and you’ll hear what I mean.

Today we’ll hear Cheikh Lô’s first release, Doxandeme, in two forms: from his 1990 debut cassette, and in its new form on his 1996 release, Né la thiass.

The word doxandeme is Wolof for immigrants and the lyrics in this song are about Cheikh’s difficulties in being a Senegalese abroad.

Cheikh Lô - Doxandeme (original)
Cheikh Lô - Doxandeme (new)

Quick post today from the golden age of West African salsa. Guinean salsero, Amara Touré, was part of a group of pre-independence salsa pioneers in Guinea and Senegal. Touré along with others like Laba Sosseh and the Star Band de Dakar kickstarted a West African salsa musical movement that enjoyed widespread success until the 1980s.

There are still a few good salsa bars in Dakar and elsewhere around West Africa. I squeezed in a dirty whisky salsa night in Dakar a few weeks back, though there wasn’t as much dancing as times past. Regardless, that particular house band has improved a lot since I last saw them. In other words, they weren’t just performing Guantanamera on repeat all night.

I wonder what would happen in Paris if, after a particularly good saxophone solo, I went up to the musician and shoved a 5000 CFA note in his suit?

Amara Touré - Cuando Llegare
Star Band de Dakar - Caramelo

I thought after all the buzz around the Awadi post I’d post some more current Senegalese hip-hop today.

The other half of Positive Black Soul, Duggy Tee (formerly Doug-E Tee - gotta love that name change), also has his own solo thing going on. Personally I think that Awadi has more talent, but Duggy Tee is really popular with the rap kids in Dakar. He must be rapping something cool in Wolof slang that I can’t understand.

Wagëblë is making a go for it. They won the 2005 Senegal Hip-Hop awards and have some good publicity buzz. Check-out their well-designed web site, MySpace page. There’s also a YouTube video of today’s track. The shots of Dakar, Gorée and Thiaroye are great.

The last group I don’t know anything about except that they remind me a bit of The Gambia’s Dancehall Masters. It’s always nice hearing the kora incorporated in to the local rnb and hiphop sound. I can imagine a heavily made-up Viviane doing vocals for these guys.

ps- any of you have a 2-3 pièces apartment for me to rent in Paris? It’s worth asking.. especially in a city where you have to visit 30 places before finding something decent. Send me an e-mail if you have a lead and I’ll bless you with African music for life.

Duggy Tee - Beugueuloul
Wagëblë - Senegal
Mama Balla - Beautiful

The 2006 Wagram compilation that reminded me to re-listen to Thione Seck yesterday, Radio Afrique, is a great compilation for anyone wanting a contemporary, mainly West African mix. I was going to post a track by Cherif Mbaw anyway today.. but instead I’ll focus a bit on this compilation. Definitely worth a buy.

Isn’t Majojo a cool song? I heard this at a couple friends’ houses while in Dakar. It’s the kind of tune that perks up some music-aware heads at dinner parties. Makes me want to lay into an organ.. there’s something so sexy about the wurlitzer-esque sound.

Cherif Mbaw’s 2005 release, Demain, is good all-round. That track Kollère is what first made me give it a listen last year. The Sally Nyolo track on Radio Afrique, Tilma, is also a great make-Monday-easier tune.

Nyolo is from Cameroon which is where my friend Marta is getting married at the end of the year. Congrats again, Marta.. I’ll try my best to make it down!

Cherif Mbaw - Majojo
Sally Nyolo - Tilma

I have a great in with the Xhosa - I can pronounce the name of their tribe. While in Namibia a few years ago I spent some hours trying to perfect the various clicks and pops of the Xhosa language and it’s paid off.

I was just at a great brunch in Paris and there was a guy there who was born in Lesotho. What a great conversation starter: “one of my favourite African authors is Zakes Mda, a X(-pop!-)hosa author from South Africa…” See? Languages get you places, even if you only know a few syllables.

Today’s track has nothing to do with the Xhosa people, brunches, Paris or Zakes Mda. It’s off an album that many of you may have, but that I’ve recently rediscovered. I’m still riding the Dakar nostalgia after my week there.. memories of dancing late at night at the Kili to Thione Seck. Unfortunately the construction along the Corniche has killed the Kili and Soumbé vibe a bit these days.

Seck’s 2005 release, Orientation, is the result of his travels to Egypt and India. On the album he unearths oriental influences in his local Senegalese mbalax style and adds new Egyptian and Indian sounds to the mix. The result is mixed but some of the tunes, such as the one I’ll post today, are amazing.

I’ve had a lot of champagne and orange juice so I’ll keep it short. Have good Sundays..

Thione Seck - Doom

Positive Black Soul was one of the first Dakar hip-hop groups to break onto the international scene. They’re universally respected by hip-hop kids in Senegal, and helped inspire a whole generation of new rap groups. Thanks to PBS and those early years of Dakar hip-hop’s rise there was suddenly underground rap fans in places like NYC and Paris whocould rhyme-off a half-dozen Senegalese rap groups, from Pee Froiss to Pacotille to BMG44.

Since PBS’ heyday Daara J has emerged as the new popular Senegalese rap group. However, PBS’ members are still recording and releasing successful albums.

One of the PBS stars, Awadi, recently came out with a new album, Sunugaal, that was all the buzz in Dakar while I was there. After giving it a few listens I was a bit let down. His first record was pretty solid, and while it didn’t quite have the freshness of PBS’ earlier stuff, it was still well worth a listen. The new one is too.. I don’t know.. unoriginal?

I look to East Africa now for new rap releases. In my opinion the Dakar hip-hop scene is trying way to hard to sound like 50 Cent instead of focusing on their biggest musical advantage: a rich local musical heritage that they could draw-on to create their own brand of creative, Senegalese hip-hop.

That said, I’ve never posted Awadi on this site from either his new or old album so we’ll hear some today. Both tracks are off his first album since in general I think it’s a better release. The first track reminds me a lot of Reflection Eternal so I’ll also post their track, African Dream.

Awadi - Le cri ou peuple
Awadi - Neye Leer
Reflection Eternal - Africa Dream

The last of my Dakar dispatches is yet another track from the Sénégal Flash series, this time off the Ndar edition.

There’s something lovely about the sound of warped tapes. It reminds me of being in taxis, stuck in traffic for hours, sucking up the diesel fumes, captivated by the activities in villages or neighbourhoods outside.

For some of the longer trips we used to buy tapes from guys working the traffic at the rond point near the autoroute. That way we’d get our pick of tunes for the ride, since sometimes listening to Youssou N’Dour Live At Bercy for the 100th time just wasn’t cool. The drivers were usually happy to oblige because they’d get to keep the tape after the trip.

I remember one trip to Saint Louis (which is called Ndar in Wolof) with my first set of roommates when all we could find for the ride was a couple Viviane casettes. Normally I’m not a big fan, but listening to our driver try to sign along, totally out of tune and with a huge stick in his mouth was priceless. I’d never before heard a Senegalese man hit the Viviane high-notes.

It’s been a fun week. Back to Paris now. Cheers and love to all my Dakar people, both old and new.

Ifan Bondi - Xaleli Africa

When I first moved to Dakar a few years ago we would often go to this tiny bar up in Sacré Coeur III to see Soulaymane Faye play. He’d sit there in the corner in his leather pants, strumming his guitar as we sipped sweaty Gazelles at the bar, sometimes chewing on tasty grilled fish. Souleymane has since moved on to bigger and better things, but I’ll always think of sitting in this bar with my friends on Thursdays whenever I hear his music.

Unfrotunately the place is long since gone, but there are still plenty of holes in the wall to take its place. Had a great night yesterday filled with a few of my favourite dive bars around Baobab, Castor and Plateau. The night swung between Ivoirian hospitality to Senegalese cool to dirty salsa and late night, bleary-eyed fun. Nice way to end off the Dakar trip.

Today’s tracks come off the Dakar edition of Sénégal Flash. You’ll hear an early, possibly pre-leather panted Souleymane Faye with synths that actually “work”, along with a tune by Pape Djiby Ba that I’ve really been digging this hot Dakar afternoon.

Souleymane Faye - Aminta Ndiaye
Pape Djiby Ba - Andeu Bolo

More music from the Sénégal Flash series today, this time off the Kaolack compilation.

Kaolack is a city of about 300,000 people in Senegal’s Siné-Saloum region. It’s a major transport hub for Tamabcounda, Dakar, The Gambia and Senegal’s south, so most people living in Senegal have spent at least some time there, myself included.

Unfortunately, aside from transport activities there isn’t much going on there. The city is quite poor these days and pollution is a big problem, hence the efforts of groups like Teranga Kaolack to help get the city back on its feet. The city does, however, have a great mosque - check-out the picture on today’s post.

Back to the music. I know nothing about Sahel, the first group you’ll hear, except that their track Bamba is an amazing-sounding, early mbalax earful. Ouza’s balad, Bouba, is great, too, because it makes me think of so many Senegalese concerts I’ve been to: long, long proclamations in the middle of every second song, with money stuffed into the performers’ shirts by adoring fans; random guys hopping up on stage to dance, or sometimes just to chill-out; awkward slow dances and shy smiles between normally separated men and women.

Sahel - Bamba
Ouza - Bouba

I stumbled upon a nice compilation by the Parisian label and production house, Arion, yesterday. It features a few artists and songs from various Senegalese and Malian communities, notably some nice kora by Lamine Konté and great vocal work by Mariam Diakité that accompanies Soungalo Coulibaly’s djembe drumming.

Compilations like this are good in the sense that they seamlessly mix Senegalese and Malian music, showing how the political borders have nothing to do with the cultures they enclose. The Peul, Mandingue, Fulani and even Wolof communities and their music span much of West Africa.

Both Konté and Coulibaly have had long and successful careers as ambassadors for their respective instruments and styles. Thanks to an active new generation of kora players like Toumani Diabaté, the instrument has become quite well-known outside of West Africa. It’s thanks to big-name griots like Konté and others, however, that the musical and playing styles were preserved over the years. Similarly, Soungalo Coulibaly’s djembe playing has brought it to a wider audiance, though I’m pretty sure the Baye Falls I can hear hammering away at their sheep skins right now would’ve kept the tradition alive and well for many years to come.

You can buy several of Coulibaly’s albums from Arion, and much of Konté’s music can be found at Sonodisc.

Lamine Konte - Telephonista
Soungalo Coulibaly - Jina Musa

I think the last time time I was in Louga was when a sept-place (think Peugeot station wagon that somehow fits seven passengers) broke-down on the way back from Saint-Louis. It was late at night so I decided to stay a while rather than sit by the car, waiting for the small, motor oil covered kids to finish fixing the engine. I wandered into some downtown bar with a take-away chawarma and ordered a Flag. They were playing warped casettes full of old music just like this.

I’m not sure why I haven’t stumbled upon the Sénégal Flash compilations before, but they’re amazing. They’re great collections of older, sometimes hard to find music usually only available on bad quality casettes. Each is named after a different city in Senegal or The Gambia, though I’m not entirely sure why since the music on each disc is mostly by groups from Dakar.

Either way, I love it. More Sénégal Flash cities to come…

ps- the title is an obvious shout-out to the good people over at Awesome Tapes From Africa.

Star Number One - Faran Tamba
Guelewar - Wartef Jiggen
Baobab Gouye Gui - Yen Saay

I’m finally done a week of work so I have some time to hit the markets, wander Dakar by day and pick-up lots of music. Today alone I bought 23 albums, all of which I’ll share with you over the next few weeks.

The other night I was having drinks at Just4You and saw a great group of young guys comprised of a percussionist, a couple kora players and a singer/rapper. The tempered Wolof rapping mixed with more traditional, mandigue-style singing sounded amazing overtop of the talented kora play. Unfortunately they didn’t have any music to sell.

That’s ok, though, since today at one of my favourite music shops up near Cité Claudel I discovered a new, young Senegalese musician named Alune. He’s a Dakarois bass player whose father was a symphonic orchestra conductor. By the age of 13 he’d picked the bass and five years he was selected to play in Ismael Lo’s band.

Alune’s first solo release, Mbolo, is a well-produced mix of many musical styles. I just noticed that he played at the Sattelit Café in Paris a couple days ago and was featured on RFI. This guy looks set to get big if he keeps it up.

Alune - Mame
Alune - Sokhna ci

Many of my friends here have had a relatively rough rainy season. Despite the sun, surf and mean brochettes there are occasional downsides to living in Dakar. One friend has typhoid, another has malaria, a few are stressed for reasons best described by financial stamps and rubber cachets, and others are contemplating leaving and how to make that happen. For these reasons and more I picked a mean mbalax tune entitled Solidarité for today’s post.

Not to start-off on a downer or anything… for me at least things are going great here. Freshly-squeezed orange juice and a Walf Fadrji newspaper in the morning, a spicy ceebu jën at lunch, work all day and then sweaty bars with JB and Gazelles at night. The nightlife is near dead because of Ramadan, but it creates a kind of eerie-but-pleasant ambiance in the fluorescent-lit restaurants, bars and clubs.

The sun is hiding behind a thick veil of hivernage clouds but I think it’ll clear up by the weekend. Then there’s the beach, maybe some diving and maybe even a trip down south to enjoy. In the meantime I’ll try to hit the markets tomorrow and Friday and pick-up some more music.

This song is really popular in Dakar at the moment. You’ll hear it in taxis, bars, nightclubs and hissing out of tiny radios held closely to the ear by the thousands of property guards scattered around downtown.

ps- my brother is getting married! Ben, I’ve been raising Flags and Gazelles to you all week. Congratulations.

Nder - Solidarité

I’m finally back in Dakar for a week after nearly a year and a half away.

I got home at 6:30am this morning after a fantastic Paris Nuit Blanche. There was just enough time for about an hour of sleep before I had to leave for the airport.

During the flight the skies were clear so I got a beautiful view of the Saharan dunes 12000m below as we flew over Morocco and Mauritania. Feeling very tired and with a mean hangover, I can’t tell you how good the humid, hot Dakar air felt when it hit my face as I stepped off the plane.

The city hasn’t changed too much since I left. There are more generators humming outside of hotels and market stands (a sad testament to Dakar’s dying electrical infrastructure), the Cathedral and Corniche mosque got makeovers, the roads are a mess from major construction projects, but Dakar is still Dakar.

There are dudes lying out on mats in the street, exhausted from the heat and Ramadan fasting, that smell of diesel, sweat, smoke, Maggi and okra hanging in the air, Lebanese dishing out tasty midday burgers stuffed with fries, onions, meat, eggs and who knows what else, rabatteurs trying to follow me around as I shop for records, street kids playing football in front of fast-moving, rusty and beautifully painted public buses… I could go on and on. I missed this place.

I’m about to meet an old friend for Gazelles and dibi at a great maki up in Castor but I wanted to get a quick post in as a way of welcoming me and, by extension, the Benn loxo community, back to Dakar.

Two tracks today. One live Youssou N’Dour track that really shows the incredible energy that he has on stage, and another mbalax tune that most likely not at your local record store. Mbalax is, after all, the unofficial national music.

Youssou N’Dour - Ndakaru
Assane Ndaye - Baye laye