Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Douris a Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman and a politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. From April 2012 to October 2012, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism and Culture, and from October 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism and Leisure...
NationalitySenegalese
ProfessionWorld Music Singer
Date of Birth1 October 1959
CountrySenegal
Africa is the future.
I don't really see myself as an actor.
I grew up with reggae music.
I have studied at the school of the world.
I really want to bring the message of love that is Islam to people; bring something new to that familiar face.
I think that Sufism fits all over the world. The concept is not anything that fits standard Western ideas - it's always related to culture, to music, to religion. It is a dominant religion in Senegal.
I don't want to see that two-tier Senegal, that two-tier Africa, when you have those at the top and those at the bottom, people who are hungry, people who do not have enough to eat.
World music is about taking things from different places and bringing them together - which is great.
Travel teaches as much as books.
Senegal needs a renaissance.
Politics is politics; art is art. If you play a political role, you have to stop being an artist.
My father used to tell me about how musicians don't have respect from people and he was afraid about my future.
Listen, a lot of religions have fundamentalists.
My music is like a spinning ball. It can turn in one direction, and then it comes back to origins.