Graphic via Evan Solano
Music never sleeps and neither does Leonel.
To talk about the history of rap in Africa is to talk about dignity in defiance. In Senegal, as in many other places around the world, hip-hop emerged within the dynamics of the diaspora. Feeding off the black music styles from the US and France, a generation of young people thirsting for expression began to form a scene around these new sounds. At first, it was the middle class youth in Dakar’s more affluent neighborhoods that caught wind of the movement, bringing back tapes from France, blasting groups like NTM, and connecting through beats and rhymes. They organized around hip-hop as dance groups, and before long those dancers picked up mics and became rappers.
This was happening against a backdrop of absolute crisis. In the neighborhoods of Dakar, rap began to speak in Wolof, the country’s majority language, and to articulate the frustrations of a generation plagued by unemployment, inequality, and repression. All of this came to a head in 1988: the complete political instability of the country (on election year, no less) provoked the outbreak of student strikes in 1988, and in response to this, the infamous Année Blanche, the cancellation of the school year, was declared by the Senegalese government.
We can call this the catalyst. Young people found a space for resistance in culture. From organized movements to clean up the streets to diverse artistic manifestations, rap was the soundtrack. In that same year, the first rap record by a Senegalese artist was released: “Sama Yaye” by Mbacké Dioum. Here was a breeding ground that produced one of Senegal’s pioneering rap groups: Positive Black Soul.
It was through the international recognition of Positive Black Soul that the next phase of rap emerged in Senegal. In 1994, PBS released Boul Falé, wherein the title track became the name of an entire movement that inspired the first generation of contemporary rappers to spread their wings and develop their artistic ambitions. The expression “Boul Fale” in Wolof means “nevermind” or “do what you want,” symbolizing a rejection of traditional norms and an attitude of indifference to criticism or social expectations. This movement was a form of resistance and empowerment for the marginalized.
From the PBS outgrowth emerged Pee Froiss, a group that revolutionized Senegalese hip-hop. Like contemporaries, Pee Froiss started out as a dance group (using only the name Frois),founded by Yoro Diop and his friends. Upon arriving in Dakar, Diop reformulated the dance group as “New Froiss,” which integrated into the Senegalese arts scene. Xuman, Diop’s cousin, joined the group to focus on rap rather than dance. Next came Daddy Bibson and Kool Koc VI, dancehall singer Sista Joyce, and DJ Gee Bayss. Their name, “Pee Froiss,” was a reinterpretation by Xuman, who rebranded the group at a time when it began to adopt a style more focused on the rap culture of Dakar’s working-class neighborhood of Fass.
Their cassette album Wala Wala Bok? (1996), became a watershed moment for the country’s rap scene. Recorded with instrumentals programmed by Daniel Gomes and live musicians, the album addressed social themes such as life choices (“Wala Wala Bok?”), unprotected sex (“Bitabane”), national political divisions (“Deuk Bi”), transatlantic slavery (“Les Cauris”), dreams of freedom (“Sons of da Sun”), self-expression (“Makowax”), and street violence. By integrating African sounds, dancehall, jazz, and a flow with distant echoes of oral traditions like taasu, Pee Froiss centered itself in the experience of Senegalese youth.
They initially printed 10,000 Wala Wala Bok? tapes and the reception from the Senegalese public was remarkable. Their European tour a month after the album’s release was only the triumphant beginning of a career that has since gone on to inspire generations of artists. Pee Froiss continued to release albums into the early 2000s, and in subsequent years, its members continued independent careers, with Xuman being the most active.
In 2023, Xuman toured the United States and was invited by UCLA to participate in a panel discussion moderated by the young French ethnomusicologist Samuel Lamontagne. This encounter sparked the inspiration to reissue Wala Wala Bok? for a new, global audience.
We had the pleasure of chatting with the legendary Xuman and Lamontagne himself about Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, the hip-hop movement in Africa’s formative years, Journal Rapée, and the close relationship between rap and wrestling in the region.
(This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.)