“Youssou N’Dour” is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and politician. N’Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegambian music known as ‘mbalax,’ a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal’s Minister of Tourism. Rolling Stone described him in 2004 as “perhaps the most famous singer alive” in Senegal and much of Africa, and ranked him in 2023 at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
