The ripening of Daara J

New name, new sound

Paris 

27/05/2010 - 

Senegalese rappers Daara J have now become Daara J Family. Moving from trio to duo, they have re-emerged after a seven year absence with an eclectic, politically vocal rap album, School of Life. Their comeback was much awaited in Senegal, which is where RFI Musique met up with Ndongo D, singer of the new Daara J Family set-up.

You can’t miss it on the streets of Dakar. Hoardings everywhere show Ndongo D and Faada Freddy advertising their latest album against a blue-sky backdrop.  New name, new style, new sound, School of Life is an explosive cocktail of hip hop, funk, reggae, soul and vocal surges. "Pure, colourful rap", according to the artists. After seven years away, Daara J is back in force. The best way to sum up the new album is mature and varied – and a result of changing practically everything! The Daara J trio who started playing together in 1993 are no more, replaced by Daara J Family, minus Lord Aladji Man. "At the end of 2007, there was a breakdown. It happens, we’re only human. He is part of us, it just happens that we’re no longer working on the same project, but we respect him a lot", explains Ndongo D, who manages to never once mention Lord Aladji Man’s name.

The duo remains discreet about the departure of their third member, whom they met during a free style party in a Dakar café. "Faada Freddy and I reached a point where we had to make some choices and now I’ve got a lot of ideas about writing, about slam", says Ndongo D. "Faada Freddy plays more instruments. We’re going to open up a lot more, we were too closed in, that was our problem." School of Life puts the accent on opening up, and borrows sounds from all over, including Dakar, New York, Paris and Kingston. Its music is so international that, on a few of the tracks, some of the vocal flurries sound like the king of pop Michael Jackson.

Fuelled by rap and griots

The day we met them, in Daara J’s rehearsal space, we discovered another secret behind their new sound. The two singers are no longer accompanied by a DJ. Now an orchestra and choral singers do the job, taking the songs further than pure hip hop. An uplifting mix with a touch of Black Eyed Peas, Celebrate, makes you want to get up and dance. "When you listen to the album, you can hear the influence of musicians from America, Europe and Africa. This album is a symbiosis of talent". Bearing the mark of Daara J’s travels over the last ten years, "School of Life is eclectic, it speaks to everyone and its music is a real melting pot", analyses Ndongo D. The core of hip hop and rap is still there, though, especially in the voice of Ndongo D, who can run syllables together in record time. "We kept the rap feel on the titles Sun Afreeca and Oh Why.  When we write, we do classic rap because we went to the school of Public Enemy and KRS-One", recalls the singer.

The two Daara J Family members have not forgotten the African sounds that rocked their younger years: Orchestra Baobab, Ismaël Lo, Xalam, Super Diamono are old Senegalese groups that never go out of fashion and influenced them. Daara J Family create a kind of "griot rhapsody" when they mix hip hop and traditional instruments on the tracks Bayi Yoon and Temps Boy, an ode to nostalgia whose chorus stays with you from the first hearing. "It’s a really strong number, both for its lyrics and its message. We miss a lot of things. The old groups and the life we once had, which was cheaper and easier."

Does that mean Daara J are still singing for a cause? Yes, but to "denounce with intelligence and subtlety", and "provide solutions", like on the track Sabodala, which criticises the way large companies exploit gold to the detriment of the people. "We have a role to play. Not everything goes through politics". Daara J are convinced that the strongest messages can be transmitted through culture and music. Last April, when playing a concert at Just for You, a café-restaurant in Dakar, they proved it again when they asked their fans to buy the album instead of getting hold of pirate copies, which are a real problem in Senegal. The space was packed and the audience obviously loved Daara J Family’s new numbers. Many of them already knew them all by heart. Faada Freddy’s voice was as smooth and sweet as ever, making the girls in the front row swoon. All signs that the new version of Daara J is not likely to lose its original fans.

Read the biography

Daara J Family School of Life (Wrasse Records / Universal) 2010

Currently on European tour. Playing in Paris on 23 July 2010, at the Cabaret Sauvage.

Marie-Laure  Josselin

Translation : Anne-Marie  Harper