Afropop Worldwide

All photos by Morgan Greenstreet

The excitement and anticipation was palpable as the seats began to fill in the historic Kings Theater on Flatbush Ave on Sunday, April 27th, 2025. When hype-man and percussionist Mbaye Dieye Faye led the twelve-piece band onstage, the capacity crowd jumped to our feet to welcome the legend himself: Youssou N’Dour strode out in a glistening white and blue kaftan, arms raised in his signature salute. The crowd poured into the aisles, phones held aloft in an attempt to capture, if it were possible, the magical tension and joy in the room.

From the first notes out of N’Dour’s mouth, we were enthralled by his calm, emphatic presence. But more than anything, we were moved by the power of his voice, slightly deepened over the course of his fifty-year career. Still, his highest notes soared and kissed the gilded rafters of the beautiful theater, while his gentler moments brought the band to a simmer and the audience to a momentary hush. The Senegalese diaspora members of the audience lifted and amplified the songs, singing along to every word of the verses and choruses, leaving those of us who didn’t know the words wishing that we too could join the cathartic choir, or at least film ourselves looking cute and singing along.

After the opening song “Lima Wessu” and the rousing anthem “Merci Enseignants,” the band launched into "Jaam" which featured the percussion section of Mbaye Dieye Faye on congas, El Hadj Faye and Thio Mbaye behind the row of sabar drums and Assane Thiam up front on the tama “talking drum.” When Thiam took a solo, N’Dour brought his mic to the drum and stood behind him, his face a mask of seriousness as the drummer delivered near-impossible rhythmic runs.

Mbalax as a genre always has an underlying current of hype, a quickening whispered pulse of percussive potential, so that even a song that begins as the most mellow ballad (such as N’Dour’s “I Love You”) can suddenly erupt into a thrilling dance rhythm with the crack of a sabar or purr of the tama. The four percussionists brought the energy of the music into overdrive, followed by a cool-down song “Yeksil” from N’dour’s latest album Éclairer le monde (Light The World), produced by Michael League (of Snarky Puppy/Bokanté) with djembe master Weedie Braimah.

“When preparing for this tour, we realized that we have over 400 songs,” N’dour told the audience. Given that he began performing and recording at age sixteen, first with Star Band and then fronting Étoile de Dakar, this number could even be an under-estimate.

The crowd was predominantly composed of members of the Senegalese diaspora dressed in their finest, from suits and gowns and traditional wear from among those of a certain age, to gold chains and shades or even corsets and glam from the Tik-Tok stars two rows in front of us. There was certainly a scattering of non-Senegalese fans as well, hanging on from N’Dour’s days on the World Music circuits alongside Peter Gabriel, Sting and the like. It’s worth noting that the show was presented by World Music Institute, which did a great job bringing these audiences together under one roof.

Youssou N’Dour has had a foot in both worlds since early in his career and he seems very comfortable in this position. Unlike some artists who make the jump into the international circuit, his popularity among Senegalese audiences has not decreased with his worldwide reach, partly because he continues to release music specifically for the Senegalese market. For example, just a few months before his latest international album Éclairer le Monde he released three singles of pure contemporary mbalax, for example "Insistéel" or “Tawféex” which made the setlist at Kings Theater. Before this year’s album, his most recent album, entitled Mbalax was a huge success in Senegal (while, it should be noted, it was not marketed at all internationally) especially “Waññi Ko.”

At Kings Theater, N’Dour sang his biggest international hits, including “7 Seconds,” and “Birima” but he also sang some back-home favorites, including “Bukki yi” and “Telepathie.” During "Senegal Rekk" the dancer Moussa Sonko flew onstage bearing a Senegalese flag: he whipped it around his head as his arms and legs flew, with a cheeky grin and laughing eyes as if daring the crowd to follow his movements if they could. He then posed behind N’Dour as the singer projected his love for his homeland with a fervor that reverberated through the crowd.

At one point in the evening, N’Dour paid tribute to his longtime guitarist/collaborator in Étoile de Dakar Jimi Mbaye who passed away in February. The young Moustapha “Tapha” Gaye opened the song with a guitar solo, executing the style Mbaye had pioneered, muting and striking the strings to produce the effect of a kora or xalam (the traditional instrument similar to the ngoni of neighboring of Mali).

After more than two hours on stage, the singer thanked the crowd and left abruptly, followed by the band. With some slight coaxing they came out for a short encore, bringing the total concert time to two and a half hours. “The shortest two and a half hour concert I’ve ever been to,” I commented to my neighbor.