''Set'' is an album by the Senegalese musician

Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...

, released in 1990. The album in part inspired the Senegalese youth movement ''Set-Setal'', which sought to beautify

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in ...

. The album peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

World Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart.

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

was disappointed by the album's commercial performance, and dropped N'Dour shortly after the album's release.

Production

The album was made with N'Dour's band,

Super Étoile de Dakar Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

. It was recorded live in the studio, in Paris, and was produced by Michael Brooks (with

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willi ...

working on one track). ''Set'' was originally intended for release only in Senegal; after becoming a hit, it was slightly remixed and distributed internationally. The lyrics are sung in Wolof, with a few phrases in English.

Critical reception

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' praised the "exuberant, universal love songs like 'Fenene' and 'Ay Chono La'."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

deemed the album "13 shortish songs replete with catchy intros, skillful bridges, concise solos, hooks." '' The Gazette'' wrote that the album "has moments of brilliance, a glorious fusion of old-and new-world thinking." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' singled out "Sinebar", declaring that it possesses "one of the catchiest, most exhilarating horn riffs in pop music this or any year."

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', listed it as the third best album of 1990. ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' called ''Set'' "one of the best Afropop albums ever," writing that "'Sabar' and 'Sinebar' show off the band’s relentless percussive chops."

Track listing

Personnel

- vocals *Ouzin Ndiaye - vocals * Habib Faye -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, keyboards *Assane Thiam - tama *

Mbaye Dieye Faye Mbaye Dieye Faye (born 1 October 1960) is a singer and a Senegalese percussionist. Overview Mbaye Dieye Faye is a singer and percussionist in Senegal. Although patrilineally from the noble Serer Faye family, he was born to a modest family of g ...

- sabar *

Jimi Mbaye Mamadou "Jimi" Mbaye is a Senegalese guitarist best known for his work with Youssou N'dour. Mbaye has developed a unique Senegalese guitar style in which he makes his Fender Stratocaster sound like local instruments such as the kora Kora may re ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

*Pape Oumar Ngom -

*Ibou Cisse - keyboards,

*Galass Niang -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

*Thierno Koite - alto saxophone *

Issa Cissokho Issa Cissokho (September 1946 – 24 March 2019) (also written as Cissoxo or Cissoko) was a Senegalese musician of Malian griot roots, a composer, and saxophone player for Orchestra Baobab. Cissokho was recruited to Orchestra Baobab in 1972 wh ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

References

{{reflist Youssou N'Dour albums 1990 albums Virgin Records albums