[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj3ErntIe5s&w=480&h=295]

My former PhD adviser, David Styan, pointed me to this mixing of popular protest and music in Senegal (not widely reported in English speaking media):  Both old school crooner, Youssou N’Dour, and Senegalese rap pioneer, Didier Awadi, have just released songs (for free download and Senegalese radio) laying into the Senegalese government over electricity cuts.  Countries in West Africa and the Sahel have faced floods in the past two months with the resultant water and electricity cuts that are leaving people frustrated.

Above are video mash-ups of Awadi’s “Da Foy Doi” and, below, Youssou’s “Leep le Lendem” (If the latter sounds familiar, it is the beat of the Beatles’ “Obla di, Obla da”?):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHIB0R1CrQQ&w=480&h=295]

(This is not the first time Awadi comments directly on politics in Senegal. Four years ago he made a song and video commenting on the fateful emigration by young Senegalese. That video turned viral.)