Daara J Interview

If the patois of hip-hop is slang, its attitude is subversivness in baggy jeans and its beats can very well border on the rude. A refined namaste and a polite satsriakal that will make your grandma happy can sound strangely out of place on a rapper’s lips. But then the Senegalese band Daara J, which sings in the tribal language Wolof, English, French and Spanish, wants to break stereotypes. In the Capital for Alliance Francaise’s Francophone Week, they belted out an unusual blend of bhangra, reggae and African music. And N’Dango D, Aladji Man and Faada Freddy, who make up Daara J, say they want to talk love, not war.

“Our music is derived from the Senegalese oral tradition of tasso and we use it to discuss environment, the living conditions and the country’s situation. But we also want to say that Africa is about youth and great music,” says 33-year-old N’Dango D, before they head home to Dakar, Senegal. “Through our music, we are also trying to break the dark image of Africa, often associated with AIDS, drugs and poverty.”

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