Biography

A popular Senegalese singer and major contributor to the country's mbalax music scene, Pape Diouf conjures a vivid and joyous sound centered around themes of love, respect, and acceptance. After starting out with the band Lemzo Diamono, he launched a solo career that took off in the mid-2000s thanks to breakout albums like Partir! and Jotna. Diouf's success extended into the next decade as he continued to record, perform, and expand his touring base with additional trips to Europe and North America. Although born into a musically inclined guewel (griot) family, Diouf initially intended to pursue a career as a plumber under his uncle's tutelage. By his early twenties, however, he chose to follow his passion for music and in 1995 joined Lemzo Diamono, a rising mbalax band in Dakar. During his three-year tenure with the group, they scored a handful of hits, though he ultimately chose to strike out on his own in 1998. Diouf's solo career got off to a slow start, and it wasn't until 2003 that his first album, Live au Biddew, appeared. The following year, he connected with Jimi Mbaye, guitarist for Senegalese vocal icon Youssou N'Dour, who happened to be one of Diouf's biggest influences. With Mbaye acting as producer, Diouf recorded Partir!, and scored a breakthrough hit with the title song, a mbalax reworking of Andrea Bocelli's "Con Te Partiro." Several years of international touring and the launch of his own band, La Génération Consciente, followed, as did the 2008 album Jotna, on N'Dour's Prince Arts label. By the time of 2012's Casse Casse, Diouf was a massive draw in his own right, selling out major venues at home and in Paris. Ràkkaaju arrived in 2014 to widespread acclaim as Diouf and his band set their sights on growing their worldwide audience with several more tours in Europe and North America as well as throughout West Africa. His sixth album, Enjoy, was released in 2018. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi