Senegalese Culture

Senegal is one of the most productive of cultural centers in Africa. This country has undergone many cultural changes due to the colonialism oppression they went through with the French. These changes started when they got their independence from the French people. The Senegalese people decided to gather ideas from the French culture and used it to make a music of their own. Furthermore, not only did they take cultural ideas from the French but also from the Cubans and Americans. This essay will discuss the development of popular Senegalese music from the colonial period to the present. After their French colonialism, the Senegalese people found it extremely important to rebel against the European culture that the French left behind. In

These cosmopolitan crews exchanged cultural forms; in other words, they “cross pollinated” their cultural ideas (Shain, "ROOTS IN REVERSE: CUBANISMO IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SENEGALESE MUSIC"). These cultural exchange happened when both, Cuban and Senegalese people were sailing on the ship. These cosmopolitan crews found music as an important part of the shipboard life due to the long distance travel and the lack of things to do in their recreation time. They both learned from each other and from numerous musicians they met in several “ports of call” (Shain, "ROOTS IN REVERSE: CUBANISMO IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SENEGALESE MUSIC"). Nevertheless, the trading market wasn’t the only means of access that the Senegalese had to Cuban music. During the colonial period, Caribbean soldiers serving for the French allowed the exposition of Cuban music in Senegal. Soldiers that served in Senegal shared their Cuban songs during their spare time thus allowing them a strong musical influence (Shain, "ROOTS IN REVERSE: CUBANISMO IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SENEGALESE MUSIC"). Both, the Cuban sailors and soldiers made Cuban music less alienated for Senegalese people (Shain, "ROOTS IN REVERSE: CUBANISMO IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SENEGALESE

However, since the beginning of the 2000s, Senegalese Hip Hop became an opening for young people to be political and social activists (Gueye, "Urban Guerrilla Poetry: The Movement Y' En a Marre and the Socio-Political Influences of Hip Hop in Senegal"). An example of which is the recent movement created by Hip Hop artists called “Y’en a Marre”. This politic movement aimed at taking away Adboulaye Wade as the president of Senegal (Gueye, "Urban Guerrilla Poetry: The Movement Y' En a Marre and the Socio-Political Influences of Hip Hop in Senegal"). Such movement allowed the younger generation to be more active and aware of what is going on around