Senegal News: Youssou N’dour announces presidential candidacy (VIDEO)
Senegalese singer Youssou N’dour announces on January 2, 2012 in Dakar that he was running for president against incumbent Abdoulaye Wade in the Feb. 26 elections. “I am a candidate,” the country’s most famous export declared on his privately-owned television station after weeks of speculation about his plans.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Senegalese musician Youssou N'dour is shaking up the political scene back home with the announcement that he will be running for president in February, challenging Abdoulaye Wade, the 85-year old incumbent who seems to be paging through the African Dictator's Book of Dirty Tricks to cling to power.
Read more at GlobalPost: Youssou N’Dour ditches music for politics
Click here to watch N'dour (in urbane intellectual mode) telling the BBC why he's shifting from music to politics.
As mentioned in an earlier GlobalPost blog post, "N'Dour is renowned around the world for his fusion of traditional Senegalese music with salsa, jazz and hip-hop."
Below is N'dour's 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry, "Seven Seconds," which was a worldwide hit and won a Grammy nomination.