Senegalese Music

Before I get into my blog, can I please say- WOAH! It's March already?!?! How did that happen?

Ok, now onto today's topic, the music here. There is music everywhere at all times. It is a combination of traditional music and American rap/pop music. Obviously I don't need to tell anyone about US rap (well, there is one rapper who is really popular right now, Akon, and he's Senegalese, so that's actually pretty cool).
The music here that is really well known is Mbalax, made popular by Youssou N'Dour, who is pretty much the big-shot of Mbalax and helped to make it really popular in the 80's and still is really popular (being old isn't an issue here). The music is really full of drums of different types that are played so fast and create such an intensely crazy rythm, and the dancing that follows along is pretty crazy too. There are tons of music videos showing mbalax and the dancing that goes along with it. In addition the music can be about a wide variety of topics, anything from religious songs, to love songs or songs praising their mother.
It's really fun music to listen to, and has a very Senegalese, colorful feel to it. There is also a lot of great live music available around town, sometimes concerts you pay to get into and sometimes free where you are having dinner. It really adds to the life here- the TV is always on, and usually has music videos going on. There is an interesting range and it shows how strongly senegalese hold onto their traditions, and all of the young kids love mbalax just as much as their parents do. In general Senegalese take a lot of pride in their culture and the ethnicity that they are a part of. There isn't much of a sentiment on behalf of the youth of trying to get rid of their culture- they just really like also mixing in western influences as well (in all arenas from clothing to music).

Ok, that's as much as I can come up with for now! If you guys don't hear from me it's because I'm on the road in Cape Verde. I'll blog from there if I can, but I think you'll just have to expect one really long blog about my adventures there. Hopefully it is a lot of fun, the weather is good, we figure out a way to communicate in a Portuguese country, we find cheap (but safe) hotels to stay in, and there are lots of adventures for us!
Wish me safe travels!