Youssou N’Dour
Africa’s world musician

A leading figure in World Music, Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour wants to use his success to aid humanitarian causes and encourage the development of talented young African musicians.

You’re a star of African music. But is there such a thing as African music?
There are countless kinds of music in Africa. Every region has its own traditional sounds. Then there’s modern African music, which combines local and foreign influences, and that’s what I’m part of. The two currents inspire each other. Traditional music is more vibrant when modern performers make use of its potential and variety.

What does music mean to you?
It’s a kind of natural force. Especially in Africa, where there’s something musical in the air, in people’s bodies, in the way they move. Africans don’t read much. They listen. And they listen with their bodies. The first thing about a song is its rhythm. But you can use its power to convey a message, to express commitment or to make people happy.

How do you write your songs?
Fifteen or twenty of my compositions came naturally. The rest I had to work on. To write them, I shut myself away and concentrate on a single topic. Today I must say that Africa has never been so ready to assert itself on the world stage. The head of the United Nations is an African. African culture is like a moving train. Its locomotive is music which can produce universal melodies.

How did you come to World Music?
Gradually. I started out when I was thirteen, singing with friends. Then I was in a more modern group, which played traditional music on modern instruments. That way I got to play in nightclubs in Dakar. Then my music took off. It started travelling and I was invited to follow it. As I listened to other kinds of sounds, through meeting stars like Peter Gabriel, I came up with a new form of expression.

What obstacles have you encountered in the course of your career?
At first my father was against it. He said people looked down on musicians and he was afraid that might rub off on him. He didn’t want to see me drinking or taking drugs. In my country, the relationship between parents and children is heavily influenced by tradition and Islam. Even after the age of twenty, children must obey their fathers. I was very young and I did a deal with mine: I’d behave myself totally as long he let me be a musician. I also thank God and my father for giving me good health and enabling me to be a role model for young people. But I don’t condemn people who drink or smoke dope. Some of them are very talented.

n Many African musicians live in Western countries, but you don’t. What keeps you in Senegal?
My family, in the broadest sense of the word. Not just my wife and children. A family is really something. I’ve agreed to take over from my father and keep an eye on everything and everyone. That’s what keeps me at home. Performers leave Senegal because there’s nothing there to help them fulfil their potential. This has made me want to change things. But I can go whenever I want to. There’s an airport in Dakar and you don’t need an exit visa to leave.

You bring the people around you into your creative universe. How do you reconcile loyalty to friends with the need for quality?
I started from nothing. Just me and a few musicians. I really had to talk them into forming a group. At the time, everyone was afraid people would look down on them. Relatives and friends were the first people to join me. Then other people did. But first and foremost I’m a professional. When someone has to be fired I don’t hesitate, whether it’s a member of my family or not. It’s all in the way you go about it. For example, if someone in my studio isn’t getting anywhere, I tell them to go and work with the sound technicians. They soon get fed up and leave of their own accord.