Senegal, the West African nation that has produced some of the most powerful and moving voices in African music – those of Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal, and Cheikh Lô – has another gift for the world. El Hadj N’Diaye brings together far-flung strands of Senegalese tradition and identity in an utterly unique musical career. N’Diaye writes songs informed by a deep knowledge of and compassion for those who are suffereing and neglected in Africa, and he writes with a literary flare born of his own experience as an author and actor. But even those who don’t understand N’Diaye’s Wolof lyrics can hardly miss the passion and sensitivity in his singing voice. From its most tender whisper to its most anguished gut cry, N’Diaye’s voice is a marvel, without question worthy of his superstar countrymen. N’Diaye’s mother comes from the Matam region in the far north of Senegal, near the border with Mauritania. His father comes from the extreme south, the Cassamance region, where the MFDC has fought an on-and-off independence struggle since 1983. In between N’Diaye’s two ancestral homes, lie the sliver-like nation of Gambia, and Senegal’s Wolof majority with its center in the crowded, frenetic capital, Dakar.
    Since childhood, N’Diaye has faced the complex task of balancing all these cultural realities. As a boy, he sold cola nuts in Dakar’s Thiaroye market. But he went on to study economics at Cheikh Anta Diop University. Ultimately, it became clear that arts were his true calling, and in addition to his musical career; he acted in two important films, -- “Camp de Thiaroye” and “Guelwar” – by the celebrated Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene. Activism and art have always gone hand in hand for N’Diaye. From the start of his career as a songwriter, N’Diaye made it clear that simple love songs and songs of celebration would not do for him. He sang about official corruption, torture victims in the Cassamance struggle, the troubles of the disenfranchised Tuareg people in northern Mali, and the forgotten shadow people who in inhabit Senegal’s poorest districts. N’Diaye has faced hostility and censorship for his brave subject matter, but he has never backed down. He currently directs arts activities for a non-governmental organization called Environment, Development, and Action (ENDA). He calls his division, Siggi enda art, “siggi” being Wolof for “lift up your head.”