Daande Lenol Percussions

After completing his secondary education, Baaba Maal was offered a scholarship to the École des Beaux Arts in Dakar. He was accompanied to Dakar by Mansour Seck, a griot (troubadour-historian) and a longtime friend and musical mentor. The two joined Asly Fouta, a 70-piece orchestra that toured West Africa in a celebration of Tukulor culture. The pair left the group in 1977, and in 1982 Maal was offered a scholarship to complete his studies at the Paris Conservatory. Seck again followed him, and the two recorded their debut album, Djam leelii, in Brussels later that year.

Maal returned to Podor after the death of his mother in 1984 and formed the nine-piece group Daande Lenol (“The Voice of the People”) the following year. Growing up surrounded by music, he defied expectations and became a musician. Maal formed the group Daande Lenol developing a distinctive sound fusing traditional African instruments with an electronic approach. 1988’s Wango was the first in a series of solo albums including Missing You, Lam Toro & Baayo. In 2015, he recorded The Traveller for Marathon Artists, reflecting his passion for exploring and blurring diverse musical forms. In 2018, he helped composer Ludwig Goransson soundtrack Marvel’s Black Panther. Established as the Voice of Wakanda, Maal is featured in the Black Panther sequel, 2022’s Wakanda Forever.