New keepers of history

Wandering singers in Senegal are blending a traditional art form with contemporary issues.

Their parents and grandparents were venerated storytellers, wandering poets known as griots who sang praises to kings, crooned family histories at weddings and delivered anti-colonial epics at political rallies.

But these days, two Senegalese brothers who hail from griot lineage are not at all interested in inheriting what they see as an outdated role in an old West African tradition.

They are, however, really into hip-hop music.

"We don't want to be griots anymore, at least not in the same way,'' Bye Maguette Sarr, 24, who goes by the stage name BMS, said as he tucked his mocha-brown Afro into a Rasta-style knit cap.

"It's not that cool to be a griot,'' said his soft-spoken brother Dibril, 26, as he strummed a guitar in the shade of a mango tree. "Young people refuse, because we don't want to copy our ancestors. We want to make our own life, a new way of expression.''

The brothers practice their blend of hip-hop and traditional Senegalese drumming in the courtyard of a brightly painted hotel, not far from the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The giant group house is filled with young Africans from griot and other lineage who aspire to be fashion designers rather than farmers, painters and poets rather than peasants.

Before written language, the griot was the keeper of history. Grandfathers would pass the craft to their sons and grandchildren. Important dates, intricate names and famous deeds involving not just their families but entire villages and kingdoms were remembered in song.

Hierarchical societies

The inherited position brought great respect in rigidly hierarchical societies, and members of the griot caste often received land, money and protection for their services. But as more people have migrated to the cities, young West Africans living in a world with the internet, satellite television and hip-hop videos beaming in every bar and middle-class household have begun to question old traditions. And today, anyone with a guitar, some decent lyrics and access to a microphone is allowed to perform.

At first, the elders lamented the change. Newspaper columnists predicted the demise of the griot, and women even held mock funerals, holding up effigies of withered griot women.

But as the old style has faded, a new and fresh griot has emerged, and a renaissance in the art form has taken place.

Young griots still sing family histories, but they also write about contemporary issues that the older generations have avoided, mixing hip-hop, jazz, rock and village music with lyrics about HIV, marrying outside caste and homosexuality.

Many artists attribute the rise of the hip-hop griot to Youssou N'Dour, one of Senegal's best-known artists. A few years ago, N'Dour announced that his mother was a griot and that African music was open to reinterpretation by all.

Youths in Dakar who roundly idolise the Senegalese singer took his comments as permission to blend hip-hop with oral storytelling, according to Senegalese music journalists. At first, many young griots rejected even being asked if they were of the lineage, and few wanted to learn to play complex and classical Senegalese instruments.

"There was a lot of panic in the older generations when we started rapping, and I really felt it was a false dilemma and too much drama,'' Paco Diemg, 26, the manager of a Rasta-rap group, shouted over the sounds blaring from refrigerator-size speakers at a rehearsal before a concert in Dakar.

"The thing is, we are city griot boys, urban creatures now. We need to shake up African culture. The new griot, let's say as MTV does, gangster is here,'' Diemg said.

Some traditionalists remain sceptical. Young griots tend to dislike performing at weddings and baby-naming ceremonies. Plus, young griots have started dating members of other classes, a longtime taboo in West Africa.

"I understand the young people don't want to completely copy us,'' said BMS's father, Souleymane Sarr, 63, who has performed his entire life. "But they shouldn't throw away their culture altogether and just copy American rap music. We hope some middle ground emerges.''

Will griots die out?

But as more young griots find themselves more comfortable at the turntable than in the town hall, some Senegalese have wondered if they should adjust a little, too.

"You can no longer keep the world out of Africa; that is too narrow-minded. But will griots die out? Of course not,'' said Bruce Onobrakpeya, 72, known as the father of Nigeria's modern art movement. "To me, a new form of griots is emerging that is truly exciting.''

"The world is changing, and so are we, and so are griots, he said. "That's not just OK, but it's wonderful.''