YOUSSOU N’DOUR, possibly the most famous African musician in the West due to his appearance in the Amnesty International Human Rights Now world tour in 1988 and a smash hit with Neneh Cherry in 1995, says he has no real problems with fame.
The only difficulty, as far as he’s concerned, was that it took a long time coming. “There’s a lot of talent in Africa and it’s possible to sell a lot of it. But it was not personally difficult for me.”
Talking over the telephone from the Senegalese capital of Dakar, his English a lot better than my French, he said he’ll be bringing an 11-person band with him for the 5FM birthday concert on October 26 at the Kyalami racetrack outside Johannesburg.
And who would be singing Seven Seconds, his big duet hit with Cherry, with him? “A girl from Senegal called Victoria Chidid.”
N’Dour will be in the country for only three days – “It’s much too short’; I’m looking forward to coming back. I’ll be doing a lot of things in Soweto (his PR wondered when, though) and I’m just gonna let things happen and try and see some music as well.”
Born in the Medina (old town) district of Dakar in 1959, N’Dour’s haunting, clear- toned, Arabic-influenced wailing vocals and musical talent got him into bands from the age of 12.
Not impossible when you consider that his mother, Ndeya Spkhna Mboup, is herself a well-known griot and composer and is said to have composed many of his early songs. By marrying into a “freeborn” family, she had to forgo the right to practise her ancestral musical craft. But that hasn’t stopped N’Dour from carrying on the tradition of a political-cum-musical commentator.
He sang with a professional modern band, Orchestra Diamono, at 14, and toured Gambia with them the next year, although he stopped when his parents became concerned he was too young for a life on the road. But in 1976, he joined the Star Band and joined in the work of Senegal’s musicians – fusing Western electric instruments and traditional Wolof rhythms and lyrics to create what became known as mbalax .
But in 1979, now 20, he moved on to set up Etoile de Dakar, in 1982 recast as Super Etoile de Dakar – the name of the band he’s bringing here.
His prowess as a praise-singer has attracted rich and famous patrons. Poorer people have identified strongly with his music, which tackles issues such as the dumping of toxic waste in Africa, urbanisation, migration, as well, of course, as celebrating life and re- working traditional folk tales. But he prefers contemporary issues to historical subject matter.
He is known for occasionally giving free concerts in the Medina. “Yeah,” he says in his Transatlantic accent, “it’s difficult there, there’s no work and people are poor. It’s important for Medina people who have made a success to go back there.”
Like fellow Senegalese performer Baaba Maal, who performed here a few weeks ago, he’s opposed to female circumcision (Ivory Coast has just outlawed it). Polygamy, though, is another thing altogether. “It’s legal in Senegal, it’s our religion. I have just one wife right now, but there’s a possibility of three more, although I’m not really looking for it now.”
In 1986 he released an album entitled Nelson Mandela and has in fact met the president twice, he says, once when he visited Senegal and once at the Mandela birthday concert in London’s Wembley Stadium.
Picked up by Virgin Records in London after Amnesty, he released The Lion and Set through them, before being dropped. He then moved to US film director Spike Lee’s label, 40 Acres and a Mule, which released Eyes Open and The Guide, which contains Seven Seconds. Both albums were recorded in N’Dour’s own Xippi studios in Dakar, giving him more control over the material.
Intensely aware of the problems of fusing Western and African styles, N’Dour has said he wants to play for his culture. “It’s my family tradition and my sons and grandsons will want to know what I have done for my country … We do not play other music. We play our music for others to hear that African music is good.”
But it seems things got over-complicated and some found The Lion and Set too westernised. And N’Dour himself sounded unhappy. After Virgin, he declared that in future, his recordings would be the same for Senegal as for the rest of the world.
“I want to touch the public at large, not just the connoisseur of African music, but I have not yet created the music that will do that,” he said.
Seven Seconds was a Western commercial breakthrough, a song that doesn’t really reflect the rest of his music, but that he says was not a compromise at all. His upcoming album is to have contributions from Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and Cherry’s producer, Cameron McVey.
Apparently, his re-worked version of Bob Dylan’s Chimes Of Freedom, translated into Wolof, with Senegalese music, is a favourite of his home audiences. That’s probably because it has been thoroughly counter- colonised … and it may just have a little something to do with the minor key and words of compassion.
Youssou N’Dour will be at the Radio 5 birthday concert at Kyalami on October 26