Visionary singer, cultural ambassador, storyteller Baaba Maal wasn’t destined to be a performer - in West African culture, the ancient griot caste traditionally produces the singers and poets, and Maal was born in 1953 in the northern Senegal town of Podor into the fisherman's caste. Growing up surrounded by music, he defied expectation and became a musician. Maal formed the group Daande Lenol developing a distinctive sound fusing traditional African instruments with an electronic approach.