Daara J is an unlikely rap group: three middle-class boys from Senegal's capital, Dakar, who met while studying accounting at their local high school. Yet their funky, beguiling album "Boomerang" has topped the world-music charts for the last three months and recently won a BBC World Music Award. They've put Senegal, already a center of rap in Africa, "on the world map," according to record producer and DJ Phil Meadley, who compiled "Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes--The Nu World Culture," a CD released last month. And they've done it with raps that criticize corruption and greed: "Like a boomerang/crime returns to the criminals/Their system sows ignorance vice and hatred." Their cry for social change is a world away from rap's more familiar celebration of bitches and bling bling, guns and gangland feuds.

Daara J--which means "school of life" in the Wolof language--is at the forefront of a new wave of activist rap. As hip-hop's audience has grown--almost doubling in the United States since 1998--and Grammy winners like Eminem and OutKast have attracted mainstream followings, there's increasing demand for more varied sounds and styles. "Rap's become very pop, and kids are starting to look for something new. [Artists] will come through from the underground now," says Simon Gavin, director of A&R at Polydor Records.

Those new acts are likely to hail from unexpected corners of the world, says Gavin--especially Africa. Senegal alone has more than 2,000 established rap groups in a population of 10 million. The first Pan-African compilation album, "The Rough Guide to African Rap," was released just last month and artists like Positive Black Soul and JJC & 419 Squad are cementing Africa's reputation in Europe as a center for cutting-edge rap. Daara J band member Faada Freddy says rap, which has roots in the West African griot storytelling tradition, has come full circle: "It started in Africa, grew up in America, and now it's come back."

Unlike U.S. pioneers whose rage-filled, often misogynistic outbursts sprang from tense, impoverished inner cities, Senegal's groups first flourished in the 1990s in Dakar's smarter neighborhoods. Gradually, they won over the city's deprived suburbs, slamming corruption and urging unemployed young men to turn their lives around. "The sound of the ghetto always rises," Daara J chant. "Hoist the flag."

Daara J's eloquent, ruminative raps and spirited stage presence appeal to audiences who seek a more thoughtful edge to their hip-hop. "They bring in people who are looking for an alternative, who like hip-hop but don't like the gangland lyrics," says Meadley. They insist the ghetto needs to be changed--but they're astute about society's entrenched racial and economic problems. Their lyrics mix English with the intense, rhythmic Wolof language. In "The Precipice," they rap: "Merciful will not be our destiny/miraculous our fate/You want my defeat, you are lying in wait for my success." An innovative sound, softened by an infusion of eclectic musical influences, helps broaden their appeal, too. "Boomerang" is spiced with Cuban rumba, reggae and traditional West African melodies. "Musically, it's much more interesting than U.S. hip-hop," says Meadley.

In Senegal, where footballers are typically the country's best-known international stars, locals are proud of the fame of groups like Daara J and the up-and-coming Alif, whose album "Dakamerap" is due out this month. Every time Daara J tours, the community reminds them they have "a mission to achieve," says Freddy. "We are close to the people, we see them suffering. We want to do something about it."

Already they have. During the 2000 presidential election, Daara J helped boot the country's corrupt government. The rappers, hired to edit speeches and promote political campaigns, brought a whole new group of voters--disaffected young people--to the polls. Now they're determined to share Africa's unique take on rap with the world. "Africa's got something very strong in its roots," says Freddy. "It's hospitality, spirituality, smiling in spite of disease, corruption, war. It's something the whole world needs." With "Boomerang," the world can get it: lyrical and impassioned, the album speaks for the disenfranchised, returning rap to its roots and revitalizing it with a fresh urgency.