Étoile de Dakar

Über Étoile de Dakar

Splinter group from Star Band de Dakar that broke away in 1977 and is widely credited with playing the first true mbalax. With Youssou N'Dour as lead vocalist alongside El Hadji Faye and Mar Seck, the band turned Cuban dance grammar into a Wolof popular music with sabar drums at its centre. Their 1979–1981 run laid the foundation for Super Étoile and for the genre that defined Senegalese pop.