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Youssou N'Dour

Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has long been an entry point for Westerners' delving into African music. Through albums such as Egypt, The Guide and The Lion, collaborations with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Sting, Branford Marsalis and Neneh Cherry, and involvement in such causes as Amnesty International, N'Dour has become the face of black African pop music in the early 21st century. But with his latest album, Dakar-Kingston, N'Dour pays tribute to a different form of black music, Jamaican reggae. The disc, including a cover of Bob Marley's Redemption Song, is an infectious throwback to the classic reggae of Marley, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff. We recently interviewed N'Dour via e-mail from his home in Dakar, Senegal.

1. Why make a reggae album at this point in your career?

It's been awhile now since I wanted to go to Jamaica and adapt my songs on a reggae rythm. But I wanted to record it in Jamaica, where the essence of reggae music was born. I had asked Tyrone Downie, ex-keyboard [player] for Bob Marley, to travel with me to Kingston to produce this album because only he knew all the great Jamaican musicians that have played with Marley.

2 How was writing reggae songs different than writing the more traditional, African-flavored songs?

Except for the song Marley and the song Black Woman, all the songs are African-Senegalese songs that I have adapted. For Marley, I have asked my friend Yusuf Islam [Cat Stevens], who has a great talent for words, to write the song with me. I'm very fond of his lyrics.

3 How big an influence has reggae been on you as a musician and writer?

Everyone in Africa has been inspired by reggae music, loves reggae music and is influenced by reggae music. I'm not a Rastaman [Rastafarian], but reggae is part of my life, as an artist and as an African.

4 Do you consider what you're doing with this album different from what such African-based reggae performers such as Lucky Dube and Alpha Blondy have done? If so, in what way?

Of course, it's different. First, I still sing in Wolof, my language, some in French and some in English, as usual, but also percussions and talking drums are very present in this album. And also, Lucky Dube, whom I admired a lot, was more politically involved in his lyrics than I am. I like to sing [about] my people, my roots, the social issues of my country.

5 In the Caribbean these days, classic reggae is not nearly as popular as dancehall and reggaeton. What do you think of dancehall and reggaeton, and do you think it's a shame that classic reggae doesn't get as much attention?

I don't think it is a shame. I think it's a generation problem. Music evolves all the time, but reggae, like rock, will never die. People like to change their habits, but when you have loved reggae once, you will always come back to it one day.