One of world music’s most renowned and respected artists, N’Dour has been bringing the world his brand of percussive African folk pop for some thirty years. And as any popular and prolific musician knows, experimentation – whether covert or overt – is the key to maintaining one’s status as a pioneer, of refusing to rest on your laurels while staying true to the sound that set you apart and brought you success.
On Dakar-Kingston, N’Dour attempts to color outside his usual lines by adopting ska and rocksteady rhythms to create his own Senegalese style of roots reggae. Far from being innovative, much of the album sounds like standard fare: the production is unmemorable, the melodies are mostly mundane, and the vocals, especially those sung in English, sound inelegant. The upbeat “Medina,” with its steady skank, warbling trumpet and N’Dour’s emphatic crooning, is the closest he gets to the hybrid sound it seems he was going for.
There are some standouts though, two of which happen to feature stellar turns by other artists. On the Morgan Heritage-assisted “Don’t Walk Away,” the veteran reggae band’s presence seems to breathe life into N’Dour, his vocals soaring with a confidence and ease that’s nonexistent on other tracks. Nigerian-German singer Ayo turns up on “Africa Dream Again” and steals the show, her clear, sharp trill and plaintive pleading filling the song with yearning and emotion. N’Dour sounds content to let her shine.
Like “Africa Dream Again,” consciousness-raising musical messages are at the heart of the album: “Black Woman,” a simple and sweet homage big-upping brown-skinned ladies, is a good example, as is “Joker,” a gentle reminder that it’s never too late to find your passion and follow your dreams. But it’s not heart that this release is lacking, it’s soul. The album opens with “Marley,” N’Dour’s tribute to the music icon’s lasting legacy, and closes with an unimaginative rendition of Bob’s “Redemption Song,” but by then, there’s no saving this record from itself.
published on Okayplayer.com