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Senegal is a Francophone country, where, as of 2024, 5.13 million (27.73%) out of 18.50 million people speak French. [2] In terms of usage, Wolof is the lingua franca and the most widely spoken language in Senegal, as a first or second language (80%). [3] Mande languages spoken include Soninke, and Mandinka.
Prior to independence, Senegalese popular music consisted of nightclub dance bands that played European music, namely American and French songs.As independence approached and the country sought to move away from its colonial past, the popular music of Senegal began to be influenced by the Cuban music that was becoming popular throughout Africa.
Sud FM, the first private radio station in Senegal, started broadcasting programs in Wolof in 1994. The morning news program in Wolof now has over 2 million listeners, said its director, Baye Oumar Gueye. “We replied to a real need: providing information to the population, who does not speak French,” Gueye said in an interview in his office.
In 2008, N'Dour offered one of his compositions, Bébé, for the French singer Cynthia Brown. [citation needed] In 2011, N'Dour was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in music from Yale University. [27] In 2013, N'Dour won a share of Sweden's $150,000 Polar music prize for promoting understanding between faiths as well as for his music. [28]
Prior to the wide spread of hip hop in Senegal, traditional music was transcended through pre-ordained griots. The term griot, also known as gewel, can be defined as, "… traditional praise-singer, musician, social go-between, counselors, or dancer and acrobat," [3] These individuals were born into, "endogamous, professionally specialized group often referred to as a 'caste'."
Mbalax (or mbalakh) is the urban dance music of Senegal, Mauritania and the Gambia.The musical style is rooted in the indigenous instrumental and vocal styles accompanied by polyrhythmic sabar drumming of the Wolof, a social identity that includes both the original Wolof people of the Greater Senegambia region and the urban panethnic identity that arose during colonialism.
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A group of musicians at the village of Mbour, playing a kora, a gongoba drum and a guitar.. The Wolof, the largest ethnic group in Senegal, have a distinctive musical tradition that, along with the influence of neighboring Fulani, Tukulor, Serer, Jola, and Mandinka cultures, has contributed greatly to popular Senegalese music, and to West African music in general.