Wolof Music

Wolof music is the music of the Wolof people of Senegal and the Gambia, the dominant tradition of Senegalese popular culture. Its ceremonial core is the sabar drum ensemble, whose complex, speech-derived rhythms accompany dance, wrestling and life-cycle celebrations, directed historically by the géwël griot caste. In the 1970s these rhythms were fused with Afro-Cuban music, soul and Western pop to create mbalax, the defining Senegalese popular style, sung in Wolof by stars such as *Youssou N'Dour*. Wolof-language song, sabar percussion and griot praise practice together mark the tradition's continuity from court and village to the modern recording industry.