World Music Encyclopedia

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Music of Senegal

Home of the griot/jeli tradition, the kora and balafon, Afrobeat, Highlife, Mbalax and the desert blues of the Sahel.

MbalaxSabarGriotKora
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Sung and searched in French, Wolof. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.

Roots and traditions

National music

During the colonial ages Senegal was colonized by France and many, though not all, Senegalese identified as French instead of any African ethnicity. Post-independence, the philosophy of negritude arose, which espoused the idea that the griot traditions of Senegal were as valid, classical and meaningful as French classical music. The first President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor (also a poet) was one of the primary exponents of this. The national anthem of Senegal, "Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons" ("Pluck all your koras, strike the balafons"), was adopted in 1960. Its lyrics, by president Senghor, refer to Senegalese music tradition, while its music was composed by Herbert Pepper (fr).

Popular music after independence

Prior to independence, Senegalese popular music consisted of nightclub dance bands (orchestres) that played European music, namely American and French songs. As independence approached and the country sought to move away from its colonial past, the popular music of Senegal began to be influenced by the Cuban music that was becoming popular throughout Africa. Ibra Kasse's Star Band was the most famous orchestra of the 1960s and 1970s and was a leader in the modernization of Senegalese music. Super Star de Dakar, led by Nigerian saxophonist, Dexter Johnson, spun off from the Star Band and was the other leading band in Dakar in the 1960s. Both played a style that was heavily influenced by Cuban music but had elements of traditional African music. The south of Senegal, called Casamance, has a strong Mandinka minority, and began producing masters of the kora in the late 1950s. The band Touré Kunda was the most popular group to arise from this scene, and they soon began playing large concerts across the world.

Read the full article: Music of Senegal Text under CC BY-SA 4.0

Playing now

What Senegal is listening to in 2026

This year's hits on YouTube YouTube's trending chart for Senegal 11 radio stations

Articles

No articles for Senegal yet. Save a Markdown file to content/articles/ with country: Senegal in its front matter.

Live radio

Radio from Senegal

Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.

Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.

Further reading

Open-access scholarship on the music of Senegal. Every one is free to read.

  1. The New Masters of Eloquence: Southernness, Senegal, and Transatlantic Hip-Hop Mobilities

    Neff 2013 Southern cultures

  2. Y’en a Marre! Hip-Hop Culture and Social Mobilization in Post Colonial Senegal

    Latuner 2018 Digital Commons @ Connecticut College (Connecticut College)

  3. Senegal

    Berktay 2022 Global Hip Hop Studies

  4. Music as Political Expression during Transitions in Senegal,

    Diouf et al. 2008 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

  5. Youth Engagement in Arts and Humanities in Senegal: A Socio-Cultural Exploration

    Edwards & Russell 2014 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

Indexed by OpenAlex 32 open-access works in all Metadata under CC0 1.0