Xiif – Ismaël Lô, 1985

🇸🇳 🎤 🎶 🌍 🥁 In the early 1980s, Ismaël Lô left Super Diamono de Dakar, which he co-founded with Omar Pene, to pursue a solo career. The Senegalese singer retained from this experience his determination to modernise traditional music, through the mbalax-pop style that characterised him. Signed with Syllart, he produced five successful albums during the decade, including Xiif, released in 1985. On this album, Lô blends pop beats with traditional sounds using a proven formula, creating tracks perfectly in tune with the times. The synths—naturally on the DX7—are handled by Manu Lima, while Valery Lobé plays drums, and his long-time collaborator Adama Faye is on guitar. The title track, Xiif, with its blues-folk undertones, sees Ismaël Lô raising awareness about African famines in Ethiopia and the Sahel. The rest of the tracks are designed for dancing, steeped in mbalax (Alal, Bode Gor), close to traditional trance (Ceddo), or borrowing motifs from rumba in Dioumaa. Two years later, his album Natt would feature his greatest success to date, Tadieu Bone, undeniably his most internationally renowned song.