mbalax

Mbalax (or mbalakh) is the national popular dance music of Senegal and the Gambia. In the 1970s, mbalax emerged as the distinctive sound of postcolonial Senegal. Derived from a fusion of indigenous Wolof sabar. Although the fusion of indigenous music with urban dance music from the diaspora and west is not new, the pan-ethnic quality of urban Wolofness provided a space for the inclusion and representation of a plethora of ethnic sounds of the Pulaar/Tukulor, Sereer, Soce, Mande and other groups from the Greater Senegambia Region. The name mbalax derives from the accompanying rhythms of the Wolof sabar and was coined by Youssou N'Dour even though, as he has stated, there were many other groups in urban Senegal fusing these traditional sounds with modern music.

History and influence

The traditional form of ''mbalax'' originated from the ''sabar'', a Wolof genre that historically fused musical and cultural practices from different ethnic groups such as the ''Njuup,'' a religious '' Serer'' music. The popular dance form of ''mbalax'' developed in urban Senegal in the early 1970s. Like many other francophone West African countries the Senegalese popular music scene was partially influenced by soul, blues, jazz, R&B, and rock from the United States, varieté from France, Congolese rumba, and Latin pop from the Caribbean and New York (e.g., pachanga, son, charanga, salsa, and Latin jazz).In this mix of African diasporic sounds Senegalese fans and musicians wanted their own urban popular dance music so they began singing in Wolof (Senegal's lingua franca) instead of French, and incorporated rhythms of the indigenous ''sabar