Immigrés / Bitim Rew

I love the interplay between strings, percussion and voice here, with twists and turns around every corner!

If you listen to it as a whole it's a good time. Great to hang or to go out and party. If you listen to the individual musicians it's pure insanity. Its like every member of this band randomly picked a song in a different time signature and just started playing and some miracle they all end up starting and stopping at the same time. It's incredible to listen to. Probably one of the most competent musicians I've heard on this list. Seems like the actual music is a little basic but they clearly know how to play.

I’ve really enjoyed the African albums on this list so far, this one doesn’t disappoint. A bit mellower than say Fela Kuti - it nevertheless has great rhythms and beats.

I'm not really into "world music" because a lot of what I have heard has rhythm / musical conventions that aren't very pleasing to me. I'm not a musician, so I can't say if those non-western conventions are present in this album or not, but this is a rare thumbs up for me in the "world music" genre

was afraid of listening to this expecting to hear french (i dislike how french sounds, sorry french people) and wow he's from Senegal, but wait it was colonized by France so... will he sing in french?

he did not, yay!
i have no idea what he was singing about, but the music is certainly great.

its sad how it has a ton of streams less than generic american/british stuff, its A LOT better than most of the music i heard here but since its not in english it tends to get overlooked, but OH MY what an album, great melodies, groove and overall vibe

not quite a 5 though, sorry mr Youssou, but big kudos to you!

Dit zijn toch de albums waar ik nieuwsgierig naar ben. Wat valt er buiten het bekende terrein te ontdekken? Tegelijk merk ik dat ik best wel moet wennen aan de zang en de rommelige opzet. Leuk om eens mee te pakken, maar plezier beleef ik er niet aan.

Fun rhythms. Smooth voice. Songs drag on a little bit longer than necessary. Would give it a 3.5 if I could.

N'Dour takes the jazzy relaxed open feel of 70s West African Golden-era of Afro-Cuban rumba (from his Star Band de Dakar days) and opens it up. This album lowers the role of the guitar and makes space to incorporate more Senegalese musical traditions (the interwoven griot-style vocals, the wide range of hand drums and the talking drum) and for some smooth jazz sounding horns/keyboards. The horns are great, but the keys, combined with the very 80s production and the bass tone in particular, do give this a very corny dated feel. Along with Salif Keita's, N'Dour is one of the cornerstones of the whole Putomayo world music 'genre' and forged a sound that would become the somewhat stultifying generic default for West African musicians seeking an international audience, combining glossy global sheen with the authenticating use of local instruments. But here in its nascent stage, there's plenty of energy and excitement to the music, and even the corny keyboard sounds have an endearing nostalgic wistfulness to them.

Really fun sound. I had never heard this before, but I love this kind of thing. Great party music.

A little too poppy/upbeat for my tastes, but an enjoyable listen anyway.

That was entirely forgetful and pretty disappointing. The songs were ok. 2/5.

I know Youssou N'Dour from other songs. This is a African style and sounds like world music. I don't like it very much.

Well known from 7 Seconds, but didn't know much of his work outside of that. It's short and beautiful, fantastic vibes that transport you to somewhere hot and dusty.

That was an incredibly pleasant album. The combination of Senegalese drums with the jazzy rock influences makes this a great listen. And happy.

Very unfamiliar territory for me but I dig it. The drums and rhythm in particular are fantastic.

Upea ääni ja hieno levy. Edelleen toivois että olis enemmän tämmösiä uusia tuttavuuksia listalla Metallican cover-keikkojen sijasta.

Más o menos me gusta la música africana (decir eso es una barbaridad en un continente enorme y ultravariado pero yo me entiendo). De Youssou creo que todo el mundo conoce su colaboración con Nene Cherry, el tema "7 seconds", y en mi caso poco más. Este disco me ha parecido escuchable pero poco más. No es malo pero no me ha despertado ningún interés ni creo que sea algo imprescindible en la vida.

Decent album, but I feel it was below average for the afro-pop I have listened to on this list so far. 2.5/5

just love this kind of music

There are far too few non-western artists on this list, so I was already feeling good about this album, just to see it here. But this is absolutely not just a token of diversity meant to appease. Rather, this is a testament to the universal language of music, which I hope will open the eyes and ears of listeners touring this list.

I personally enjoyed the vibrant vocals and horns, the hypnotic drum chorus, and the iterative verse-over-verse permutations of the opening track 'Immigres/Bitim Rew' and the closing track 'Badou'. The central two tracks are much more mellow, but similarly rich in their musical texture.

This is a wonderful introduction to the music of Senegal and I look forward to exploring the artists and albums of that country and region further; with or without this list's recommendations.