Cheikh Lô was born to Senegalese parents in Bobo Dioulasso, the quiet, ancient second city of Burkina Faso, deep in the interior of West Africa. Though his father had moved the family to Bobo in 1953, they stayed close to their Senegalese roots by way of all those visitors. "There were Toucouleur there," Lô recalls. "There were Malians passing through. Every day, people came and people went. Sometimes, there were thirty people in our home." Young Cheikh took an early interest in music and began playing drums and congas, and singing. His father tolerated this, but his mother disapproved, preferring that he study to become a bureaucrat like his brothers. Lô's professional career started in Bobo with Orchestre Volta Jazz, a kind of variety band that did Cuban and Congolese hits and a few pop adaptations of Burkinabe folklore. After moving to Senegal in 1978, Lô played drums and percussion with Ouza, a progressive mbalax singer, and then with the house band at the Hotel Savana. Once again, he found himself immersed in international variety. By then, the Congolese sound was in full flower, Cameroonean makossa was coming on strong, and reggae had entered the mix. Lô absorbed everything. In 1985, he was given his first guitar, and he began writing songs. He soon released his first cassette, which earned him well-received appearances on Senegalese television. Lô began working with a group of Ivoirien and French musicians, and they all went to Paris to record in 1987. The group disintegrated, but Lô remained in Paris working with a variety of African musicians for the next two years. Back in Dakar in 1990, Lô released his first cassette Doxamdeme and his career began in earnest. He had conceived of a new sound--soft and rhythmic, graced by acoustic sounds and the emotional character of Latin music--something quite apart from the pur et dur (pure and hard) mbalax that dominates the Senegalese market. Lô is a Baye Fall, a member of a mystical brotherhood within the larger Islamic brotherhood of the Mourides. Just as Rastafarianism imbued roots reggae with an aura of otherworldliness, Lô's faith has given his pop creations a transcendent spirituality. "Pray to God as if you were going to die tomorrow; work as if you were never going to die." This, says Lô, is the core of Mouridism, and it helps explain why Mourides control a reported 80% of the Senegalese economy. Lô got his chance to perfect his art in 1995 when his friend and mentor Youssou N'Dour agreed to produce an album for him, Né La Thiass. Lô's soft mbalax, his feel for Latin and Conglolese music, his powerful voice, and his religion all came together in one of the most memorable Afropop records of the decade. Né La Thiass proved an international success and led to Lô's appearances with Africa Fête in 1998. Lô's 1999 follow-up Bambay Gueej has received similar acclaim for its beauty and originality. He enters the new century as one of the brightest stars in African music.