Baaba Maal is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary. Maal sings primarily in Pulaar and promotes the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking people, who live on either side of the Senegal River in the ancient Senegalese kingdom of Futa Tooro.
Early life and education
Maal was expected to follow in his father's profession and become a fisherman. However, under the influence of his lifelong friend and family gawlo, blind guitarist Mansour Seck, Maal devoted himself to learning music from his mother and his school's headmaster. He went on to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies on a scholarship at Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Career
After returning from study in Paris, Maal studied traditional music with Mansour Seck and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. Maal's fusions continued into the next decade with his Firin' in Fouta album, which used ragga, salsa and Breton harp music to create a popular sound that launched the careers of Positive Black Soul, a group of rappers, and also led to the formation of Afro Celt Sound System. His fusion tendencies continued on 1998's Nomad Soul, which featured Brian Eno as one of seven producers. In addition to his various solo releases, he contributed to two tracks, "Bushes" and "Dunya Salam", on the concept album 1 Giant Leap. In 1998, Maal recorded "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album ', a tribute to George Gershwin which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. In 2002, Maal again worked with the Red Hot Organization, recording "No Agreement" alongside Res, Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp; as well as "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am" alongside Taj Mahal and featuring Kaouding Cissoko and Antibalas, for the tribute album to Fela Kuti, '. On 7 July 2007, Maal performed at the Live Earth concert, Johannesburg. Maal's album On the Road, a live acoustic album recorded straight from the mixing boards of his shows over a ten-year period, was released in 2008. A new studio album, Television, was released in 2009. He appears on two tracks "Hunger" and "Still" on the Black Hawk Down film soundtrack and performed on the title track of the 2008 video game Far Cry 2, in addition to helping to create the whole soundtrack for that game. He played at Bonnaroo and the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2010. He appears on a track on the Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly album All of This Yours. Maal sang the track for Kerala Tourism's 2010 ad campaign "Your moment is waiting" with music composed by One Giant Leap. On 4 May 2013, Maal performed at the 2013 edition of the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe. In 2014, he contributed to the BBC Music's remake of The Beach Boys song "God Only Knows". Maal's 11th studio album, The Traveller, recorded with Johan Hugo from The Very Best and Winston Marshall, was released via Palm and Marathon Artists. The lead singles, "Fulani Rock" and "Gilli Men", received critical acclaim. The Traveller was released in January 2016, and was accompanied by a UK tour and headlining Senegal's Festival Blues Du Fleuve. Maal accompanied Mumford & Sons on their Gentlemen of the Road tour around South Africa in 2015. He also released a song and accompanying live performance music video with Mumford & Sons called "There Will Be Time". In 1998 he was honoured with a Prince Claus Award from the Prince Claus Fund, based in Amsterdam. He voiced the Wakandan soundtrack of Black Panther for Ludwig Göransson.
Giving back
On December 11, 2019, Maal promised to fight to stop the desertification in the Sahel by planting trees. He said he hoped every person in Senegal could say they planted a tree.
