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{{Short description|Urban dance music of Senegal and Gambia}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Mbalax, Senegalese urban dance music
| stylistic_origins = 
| cultural_origins  = Early 1970s [[Senegal]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rightforeducation.org/2021/01/27/mbalax-dance-music-of-senegal-and-gambia/|publisher=[[Right for Education]]|title=MBALAX: DANCE MUSIC OF SENEGAL AND GAMBIA|access-date=2022-05-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2013/11/19/photo-blog-the-beat-of-the-gambia/|publisher=Africa at LSE|title=Photo Blog: The Beat of The Gambia|access-date=2022-05-30}}</ref><ref>{{Google books|wvb2DwAAQBAJ|Music around the World: A Global Encyclopedia (3 volumes): A Global Encyclopedia|page=327|keywords=senegambian,mbalax}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barz |first=Gregory F. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51499 |title=Mbalax |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Oxford Music Online|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51499 }}</ref>
| instruments       = 
| derivatives       = 
| subgenrelist      = 
| subgenres         = 
| fusiongenres      = afro mbalax, mabalax pur et dur, moderne mbalax
| regional_scenes   = 
| other_topics      = 
}}

'''Mbalax''' (or '''mbalakh''') is the urban dance music of [[Senegal]], [[Mauritania]] and [[the Gambia]]. The musical style is rooted in the indigenous instrumental and vocal styles accompanied by [[Polyrhythm|polyrhythmic]] sabar drumming of the [[Wolof people|Wolof]], a social identity that includes both the original Wolof people of the Greater [[Senegambia]] region and the urban panethnic identity that arose during [[colonialism]]. 

A cultural value proved by Wolof is their one's and respect of other cultural and musical practices. Therefore the origins of mbalax include a fusion of Wolof, Soce, and  [[Serer people|Serer]] music, rhythms, and instrumentation. The Wolof ability to include the diverse styles from Senegambian groups has allowed the sabar and its modern music formation to thrive. It is not uncommon, for example, for a sabar event to include music of the Serer such as the [[njuup]], which is connected to sacred [[ndut initiation rite|ndut rite ceremonies]].<ref name="Sturman">Sturman, Janet, ''The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture'', [[SAGE Publications]] (2019), p. 1926 {{ISBN|9781483317748}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=9TuKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1925] (Retrieved 13 July 2019)</ref><ref name="coonnol">Connolly, Sean, ''Senegal'', [[Bradt Travel Guides]] (2009), p. 27, {{ISBN|9781784776206}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=WcaGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27] (Retrieved 13 July 2019)</ref> In this way many ethnic groups may participate and the inclusion also increases the accessibility and popularity of the genre. 

In the 1970s, mbalax arose as Senegalese fused indigenous music styles with urban dance music from the African diaspora, the West, and the continent.  These foreign sounds included U.S. [[soul music|soul]], jazz, and salsa. Afro Cuban musics from the diaspora, Congolese rumba, and [[rock music|rock]] were also fused with the rhythms of ''[[sabar]] t''hat were now played on the electric bass, guitar and keyboards.

==History and influence==
{{Main|Ndut initiation rite|Njuup}}
The traditional form of ''mbalax'' originated from the ''sabar'', a Wolof genre that historically fused musical and cultural practices from different ethnic groups such as the ''[[Njuup]],'' a religious ''[[Serer people|Serer]]'' music.<ref name="Sturman"/><ref name="coonnol"/> The popular dance form of ''mbalax'' developed in urban [[Senegal]] in the early 1970s. Like many other francophone West African countries the Senegalese popular music scene was partially influenced by soul, blues, jazz, R&B, and rock from the United States, varieté from France, [[Congolese rumba]], and Latin pop from the Caribbean and New York (e.g., pachanga, son, charanga, salsa, and Latin jazz). In this mix of African diasporic sounds Senegalese fans and musicians wanted their own urban popular dance music so they began singing in [[Wolof language|Wolof]] (Senegal's lingua franca) instead of French, and incorporated rhythms of the indigenous ''[[sabar]]'' drum (see Mangin<ref>Mangin, Timothy R. "Notes on Jazz in Senegal." Uptown Conversation: The New Jazz Studies. Eds. O'Meally, Robert G., Brent Hayes Edwards and Farah Jasmine Griffin. New York City, Canada: Columbia University Press, 2004. 224-49. Print.</ref>). Dancers began using moves associated with the sabar, and tipping the singers as if they were traditional ''[[griots]]''.

Among the bands that played this new style, [[Etoile de Dakar]] (starring [[Youssou N'Dour]] and El Hadji Faye), and [[Raam Daan]] (starring [[Thione Seck]]), Xalam II, and [[Super Diamono]]. Since becoming popular, both Mbalax and its associated dance have spread to other regions such as [[Mali]], [[Mauritania]], [[Ivory Coast]] and [[France]]. This dissemination has come about through radio, [[Compact Cassette|audio cassettes]] and televised video clips.

Mbalax instrumentation includes keyboards, synths and other electronic production methods. However, it is the Nder (lead drum), the [[Sabar]] (rhythm drum), and the [[Tama (percussion)|Tama]] (talking drum) percussion, and widely influenced African and Arabic vocalistic stylings that continue to make Mbalax one of the most distinctive forms of dance music in west Africa and the diaspora. [[Jazz]], [[Funk]], Latin (especially Cuban) and Congolese pop music influenced the early sounds of Mbalax, today it is also influenced by [[RnB]], [[Hip-Hop]], [[Coupé-Décalé]], [[Zouk (musical movement)|Zouk]] and other modern Caribbean, Latin, and African pop musics. Mbalax artists frequently collaborate with artists from other genres, such as [[Viviane Ndour]]'s work with Zouk star Philip Monteiro and French/Malian rap star [[Mokobé]]. Perhaps the most well known collaboration of all was Youssou Ndour's huge hit with [[Neneh Cherry]]; '[[7 Seconds (song)|Seven Seconds]]'.

==Mbalax dance==

Mbalax Dancing is popular in nightclubs and social gatherings as well as religious and life cycle events such as weddings, birthdays, and naming ceremonies.

The basic mbalax dancing involves pelvic gyrations and knee movements, but new movements arise as well, often associated with popular songs.<ref name=tang/> Patricia Tang describes some of the new movements:
<blockquote>
"Examples of such dances are the ventilateur ('electric fan', which describes the motion of the buttocks swirling suggestively); xaj bi ('the dog', in which a dancer lifts his/her leg in imitation of a dog); moulaye chigin (which involves pelvic and knee movements that perfectly match the sabar breaks); and more recently, the jelkati (a dance in which the upper arms, bent at the elbows, move in parallel motion from left to right). All of these dance crazes are closely tied to sabar breaks, and some (such as tawran tej) are even named for the vocal mnemonics of the sabar rhythm they accompany."<ref name=tang>{{cite book | last=Tang| first=Patricia  |date=September 2007 | title=Masters of the Sabar: Wolof Griot Percussionists of Senegal | url=https://archive.org/details/masterssabarwolo00tang| url-access=limited| publisher=[[Temple University Press]] | location=Philadelphia | page=[https://archive.org/details/masterssabarwolo00tang/page/n172 159] }}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Music and instrumentation==
[[File:Tamadrum YoussouNdour.jpg|thumb|300px|A talking-drum player with Youssou N'Dour]]
Senegalese songs are usually unwritten, and certain instruments or musical styles are reserved for specific genders or age groups. In the past, only ''[[griot]]s'' could perform music. Their traditional role was transmitting oral history, genealogies and social rankings, diplomacy, and storytelling. Today, griots continue to participate in naming ceremonies, weddings, and funerals.

Music is performed using instruments such as drums, [[balafon]], [[Goje|Riti]], [[Talking drum|Tama]] (talking drum), and the sabar drum. In the 1970s Western instruments and equipment such as the [[flute]], [[electric guitar]], [[piano]], [[violin]], [[trumpet]] and [[synthesizer]] have been incorporated into the music, to accompany the dance. In addition to the instrumentation, humming, chanting and singing (in either Wolof, French or English) are used in the music. The lyrics of mbalax songs address social, religious, familial, or moral issues.

According to author Patricia Tang:
<blockquote>
"The rhythmic foundation and primary identifiable feature of modern mbalax is the sabar...in Wolof gewel percussionist parlance, mbalax literally means 'accompaniment'. Within a sabar ensemble, different drums play different roles, and mbalax refers to the accompaniment parts played by the mbeng-mbeng. However, the mbalax part varies rhythmically from one dance to another.<ref name="tang"/>
</blockquote>

==Artists==
* [[Youssou N'Dour]]
* [[Habib Faye]]
* [[Thione Seck]] and [[Raam Daan]]
* [[Omar Pène]] and [[Super Diamono]]
* [[Yusupha Ngum]]
* [[Pape Diouf (artist)|Pape Diouf]]
* [[Alioune Mbaye Nder]]
* [[Viviane N'Dour]]
* [[Coumba Gawlo]]
* [[Titi (singer)|Titi]]
* [[Ismaël Lô]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

{{Genres of African popular music}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Music of Senegal]]
[[Category:Serer culture]]
[[Category:Music of the Gambia]]
[[Category:Music of Mauritania]]