The celebrated Senegalese singer and composer is returning to Carolina Performing Arts tonight as part of its 10th anniversary season.
A Grammy Award-winner and international superstar, N’Dour has topped multiple top 100 charts around the world with the style of music he pioneered. Mbalax — a fusion of western jazz, soul, Latin and rock with African percussion — is the national dance music of Senegal.
“It’s a form of dance music that combines traditional African and Western dance music forms,” said Emil Kang, CPA executive director for the arts.
Kang said the dance floors in Memorial Hall will be open for audience members to dance on to enjoy a lively performance.
Senegal native Mamarame Seck, assistant professor in the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, said he has great expectations for N’Dour’s return to UNC.
“I’m from Senegal, and I think everyone in Senegal likes Youssou,” he said. “He’s very popular, and we like him as a musician or we like him as someone who has accomplished great things for the country, for Africa.”
Seck is putting N’Dour’s voice on paper in a biography he is writing about the musician-turned-politician.
“(N’Dour) has always been that activist who wants to be the voice of his country, which has led him to be at the forefront of the battle for social justice and democracy,” Seck said. “Because of this, I think he understood that the best way to serve them, to defend their interests, was to get into politics.”
