Lonely Planet India – August 2019

“You can

feel that

everybody

is at ease

in Dakar”

drumming from Senegal, Mali and Guinea,”

he says. “That’s why drumming is also

important in reggae music. The origin of all

international music – blues, jazz, soul, reggae

• is Africa. It all came from here.”
  It would be easy to lose hours rummaging
  through Dread Amala’s crates, but to really
  experience Senegalese music I want to see
  it live. I head downtown to PLAYclub, in the
  basement of the Hotel Al Afifa, a slightly
  seedy-looking joint that appears to be largely
  unchanged since the 1970s. There are circular
  mirrors on the walls behind the bar, where
  a well-dressed bartender shakes a daiquiri
  in time to the music. Tonight’s main attraction,
  Woz Kaly, doesn’t come on until just after 1am.
  The set starts slow, showcasing the power of
  his singing in his native Wolof, before building
  up to a hip-shaking intensity that has the
  crowded room dancing and singing along.
  It’s not quite like anything I’ve heard anywhere
  else in the world.

S it turns out, Dakar is running

a surplus of spectacular live

performers. After seeing Woz

Kaly in action, I sit down with

local pop sensation Adiouza, whose live shows

are filled with such crowd-pleasing glamour

and effortless dance moves they’ve led to her

being dubbed ‘Senegal’s Beyoncé’. She modestly

laughs off the comparison. “Beyoncé is a great

singer,” she says. “I listen to her songs, and to

other American singers, but my real inspiration

is traditional African roots musicians and

singers. In my music, you can hear traditional

and modern music coming together.”

Adiouza released her first single in 2008,

so she has watched from a front-row seat

as Dakar’s music scene has broadened beyond

the local style of pop, known as mbalax. “Dakar

is the centre of Senegalese music, so there are

a lot of different artistes in different styles,”

she says. “You can find artistes who do reggae,

hip-hop and Cuban music. Me, I mix every type

of music to find my own style.”

Musician Jahseen

in the café area

of Hôtel du Phare

in her neighbourhood

of Mamelles, Dakar

96 August 2019