Youssou N’Dour Is Ready to Revitalise the Term ‘World Music’

For the 65-year-old Senegalese music icon, the problem stems from overexpansion of what the term' world music' means and how modern interpretations have stripped it of its true meaning.

"What happened is that everyone is now doing 'world music.' Those doing pop music will say they're doing 'world music.' It's all 'world music,' which is true," N'Dour tells OkayAfrica.

"But the original format of 'world music' has been diluted in all these different kinds of music going around. And over the past few years, with the pandemic and everything shutting down, we returned to a space where 'world music' wasn't recognized anymore."

In his newest album, Eclairer le Monde - Light The World, N'Dour has set out to remind listeners what 'world music' is as a genre and a socio-cultural movement.

A few days before the album's release, N'Dour speaks with OkayAfrica over a video call. His voice is bright and youthful. Much like this latest record, his person has a refreshing, buoyant energy, an excitement still present despite 45 years of music making.

"It is our place to bring the focus back to what 'world music' was and what it should be. And that was the work I went into doing."

Creating a bridge

In 1990, N'Dour released a song called "Set." In Wolof, the word means 'clean' or 'pure.' Metaphorically, the song was a call for transparency in public policy, in business, and even in one's personal life.

Not long after its release, "Set" ignited a movement amongst young kids in Dakar and around Senegal. They began cleaning up their neighborhoods, packing up illegally dumped garbage, repairing broken water facilities left to rot by the administration, and generally making a conscious effort to revamp the city, and exemplify a spirit of transparency.

"'Set-Setaal' ('Clean - Let's Be Clean') became a rallying cry for good behavior in public, for getting things done without waiting for the government to do them, for taking responsibility for one's everyday environment, at the level of your own block," N'Dour said as he prepared for his North American Tour back in 2000.

Over the years, N'Dour has continued to be a bridge, using his work to address pertinent social issues and putting himself on the line to enact the changes he would like to see. He has performed at Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour and worked with the United Nations and UNICEF to address the suffering of children in need. Through Project Joko, he used internet cafes to connect Senegalese communities worldwide.

Eclairer le Monde - Light The World is another extension of his capacity to be a bridge. It's also how he describes 'world music.'

"[It's] a melting pot of different sounds, instruments, and musicians," N'Dour says. "But it always has to have that African rhythm and representation, which is very emblematic of my world music."

In this new project, N'Dour worked closely with American producer Michael League, who plays all the bass and some ukulele, guitars, and keyboards on the album. He also brought on Minur Zakee from Atlanta, who played the drums. The pianist Frank Locrasto was from New York, and the Kora player Momi Maiga was from Madrid.

"And then my musicians — Mbaye Dieye Faye and Thio Mbaye [who were on] percussion, Asane Thiam on the Tama, and Tapha Gaye on the guitar — are there. So it's not just African music, but a form of music with different import, almost like jazz."

A return to the familiar

The many directions in which life has taken N'Dour — performing since he was twelve, scoring a hit with his 1994 song "7 Seconds," winning three Grammys, all under the Best World Music Album category (now known as Best Global Music Album), founding his own media company in Senegal, and running for Presidency in 2012, to name a few — have made him a master storyteller, one who never runs out of a tale or an existential observation.

In Eclairer le Monde - Light The World, which offers a blend of mbalax sounds and pop-infused basslines, N'Dour tackles the mundane and the heavy with equal seriousness and care. The album is a championing of friendship, a call to the world to find our humanity again, our points of connection. It's an important message at a time when most of the world's politics have resulted in division. "The album serves as a strong force to open our eyes to see how we should be living in the world," N'Dour says.

"It's about solidarity, coming together and seeing our differences as a wealth, as a strength, not a separation. I strongly believe that music is the first universal language. Some tracks have different instruments opening the song instead of the voice, as usual. So it's a mix of different things. I think that's what music should serve, so that as a people, we can find our common goals and humanity."

In "Mbëggėl Doole," universal love is at the center. The song speaks directly to the tension of our times, one that began brewing during the pandemic. On "Tell Me What You Want," N'Dour devotes himself to desire and fulfilling the wishes of the one he loves over a trilling bass guitar. The interpretation of his themes may have different subjects, but they come from one sentiment.

All in all, N'Dour's goal is revitalizing 'world music' as a nexus of varying sonic inspirations and a vehicle to advocate for a more tolerant world that sees humanity through love, play, hope, and fear.

N'Dour himself puts it best. “The whole idea is to bring a new light into the world. We may come from different backgrounds, but we are all humans. And we should be able to welcome each other with open arms.”