“Life here, it’s a bit difficult. But it’s not too serious.” These sayings, heard on occasion in Dakar, belie the Senegalese art of dignified understatement. © Sharon Schoen
There is a mélange of cultural influences in Dakar which may at first glance seem a jumble of mixed metaphors to the uninitiated. However, Dakarois—like most global urbanites—generally take a nonchalant attitude toward paradoxes and apparent incongruities. © Sharon Schoen
Marie, N’Gom and Sodeh sing tasso, a traditional form of improvised poetic song. Recently, it’s also referred to as “original hip hop”, and not in the least jokingly. Daara J, a Dakar-based rap group—who won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music, Africa 2004—named one of their releases "Boomerang" in a reference to the interplay between traditional Senegalese, diasporic and contemporary music forms. © Sharon Schoen
Although he lives in an outlying suburb, and enjoys a much more traditional life than his counterparts who live or work in central Dakar, this butcher's old school style looks like it might have been lifted directly from an early 1980s music video. © Sharon Schoen
Mame Ngor M’Boup of Baye Fall Sisteme music management poses for a snapshot, while he explains that Senegalese hip hop is number three in the world after the U.S. and France. He projects that Senegal could soon move up the ranks. © Sharon Schoen
Nana is the hot haircutter in Dakar, and the style-conscious line up for hours for one of his cuts. © Sharon Schoen
Lemou Diop is a gifted singer and Simba performer. The Simba is a recent theatrical revival of ritual dances that were performed by secret leopard societies generations ago. Young people train for years to be a Simba, mastering the art of convincing growling, fire breathing, and razor blade eating. © Sharon Schoen
The owner of Slam Dunk supplies Dakarois with the latest looks from abroad. © Sharon Schoen
Friends read cowrie shells—a form of fortune-telling, and share recent snapshots. © Sharon Schoen
Dakar youth have created their own slang which interweaves words from many languages, including Wolof, French, English, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish. It’s said that this idea was inspired by former President Senghor’s cosmopolitan student days in Paris. As a result, you may hear sentences such as, “Graule, parce-ce que, no problem. Ok, ciao!” © Sharon Schoen