Words:Adedosu 'kenzy' Adekunle
The Senegalese music icon, percussionist, occasional actor and Grammy winner yesterday Jan 2nd 2012, announced he is in the race for the presidency of Senegal in the coming elections in February, competing against the country's 85yr old president, Abdoulaye Wade, who is running for third term.
"I am a candidate. I will engage in the presidential race. I do not have a university education but the presidency is not something you go to school for. For a very long time, many Senegalese of different backgrounds have called for my candidacy for the presidency next February. I've listened, I've heard and I am responding favorably to their request. I am a candidate. It's a supreme patriotic duty, the best I can give of myself. I am the alternative to the current leadership in place in the country" - N'Dour said in a broadcast.
Youssou N'Dour was born in Dakar to a Serer father. At the age of 12, he began to perform and within a few more years he was performing regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the early 1970s. Several members of the Star Band joined Orchestra Baobab about that time.
Despite N’Dour's maternal connections to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned, instead, from his siblings. His parents' world view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring Youssou's identity as a modern griot.
In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Étoile de Dakar. His early work with Étoile de Dakar was in the typical Latin style popular all over Africa during that time, but in the 1980s he developed a unique sound when he started his current group, Super Étoile de Dakar featuring Jimi Mbaye on guitar, bassist Habib Faye, and Tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam.
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