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BBC Music on the World Service with Cerys Matthews: Baaba Maal

Discussion & Talk

Baaba Maal

13/02/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - BBC Music on the World Service with Cerys Matthews, Baaba Maal

Meet Baaba Maal, the man who brought Senegalese music to the mainstream

Baaba Maal, the man who brought Senegalese music to the mainstream and became a global campaigner for human rights, talks to Cerys Matthews.

The darling of Chris Blackwell’s world music imprint in the 1980s, Baaba Maal became known for his fusion of pop and rock with African styles and has released over 11 albums in his career, spanning everything from traditional acoustic styles to big pop productions.

From modest beginnings as the son of a fisherman in the town of Podor in northern Senegal, Baaba Maal broke the mould from an early age, deciding to follow his passion for music even though he was not born into the traditional musical caste. But despite the odds Baaba has grown to be a household name, wowing audiences with his electrifying voice and live performance, curating his own festival in Senegal and collaborating with Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Tony Allen, U2 and producer John Leckie. 
 
Now he uses his global fame to campaign for human rights while continuing to release his own brand of genre-hopping music and he shows no sign of slowing down.
 
Over the course of an hour Baaba takes us back to a childhood spent listening to his father’s call to prayer and his mother’s folk songs along the banks of the Senegal river. We hear about his early adventures across West Africa learning his trade alongside long-time collaborator Mansour Seck, meeting Chris Blackwell of Island records and his rise to fame in the 90s, and why he considers it his responsibility to use music as a tool for change in Africa.

(Photo: Baaba Maal performs in New York, 2009. Credit: Getty Images)

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