01. New Africa [00:03:43] 
02. Undecided (Japoulo) [00:07:27] 
03. Mouvement (Dunya) [00:04:26] 
04. 7 Seconds (With Neneh Cherry) [00:08:54] 
05. Yo Le Le (Fulani Groove) [00:10:12] 
06. Without A Smile [00:12:49] 
07. Please Wait [00:08:22] 
08. Country Boy [00:05:16] 
09. Birima [00:08:04] 
10. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da [00:07:36] 
11. Old Man [00:05:46] 
12. No More [00:12:54] 
13. Set (Live) [00:08:28] 
14. Oh Boy (Live) [00:06:26] 
15. Don't Look Back [00:12:54] 
16. Things Unspoken [00:07:01]

Personnel: 
Youssou N'Dour, Neneh Cherry (vocals); 
Abdoulaye Diouf (spoken vocals); 
Kevin Armstrong, Pape Oumar Ngom, Jimi Mbaye (guitar); 
Thiemo Koite (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); 
Issa Cissocko (tenor saxophone); 
Brad Wheeler, Branford Marsalis (saxophone); 
Ron Meza (trumpet); 
Glenn Ferris (trombone); 
Habib Faye (keyboards, bass); 
Ibrahima Cisse, Jean Philippe Rykiel, Mac Fallows (keyboards); 
Jerry Wonder, Andy Shafte (programming); 
Wyclef Jean (background vocals).

Youssou N'Dour has two sides to his career. There's the hard-driving mbalax style that he created by fusing calypso, Latin and pop to traditional Senegalese music. Then there's the (some would say overproduced) world-beat pop that recalls the later work of Peter Gabriel. Falling into the latter category, 7 Seconds is a 16-track collection that draws from two Columbia albums from the early 1990s and a French import of 2000 (Joko (From The Village To Town)) as well as two cuts from a 1994 live-for-radio recording. The most interesting tidbit, however, is N'Dour's near straight reading of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," which came out as Japanese-only single in 1996. The duet with Neneh Cherry on "7 Seconds" shows how good of Western pop singer N'Dour is, but he also does well on the soul classic "Don't Look Back," which features Wyclef Jean. This is definitely a strong argument for revaluating N'Dour's poppier material. ---Tad Hendrickson

This 16-track compilation covers Senegalese singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Youssou N'Dour's Columbia Records period, from 1991 to 1996. Perhaps the most popular pop culture figure in Senegal's history, N'Dour created a music of his own from various sources, which he called "mbalax" and which incorporates everything from jazz, soul, hard R&B styles, hip-hop, and even Cuban samba, and juxtaposes them with the folk melodies and polyrhythms of his native land. The cuts here, particularly "Old Man," "New Africa," "Yo le Le, (Fulani Rhythm)," and the covers of Smokey Robinson's "Don't Look Back," and Lennon and McCartney's "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da," reveal N'Dour's idiosyncratic, yet very accessible grasp and integration of Western and African pop styles. ~ Thom Jurek

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1		Habib Faye
2		Birima (Remix)	Featuring – Seinabo Sey
3		Confession
4		Ay Coono La
5		My Child		Featuring – Babatunde Olatunji
6		Macoumba
7		Salimata
8		Hello (Remix)	Featuring – Mohombi
9		Takuta		Featuring – Babatunde Olatunji
10		Tell Me

Sikiru Adepoju 	Talking Drum
Mike Bangerz 	Arranger, Programming 
Alexandru Cotoi 	Guitar, Vocal Arrangement
Augustine Huche Ezra 	Programming, Vocals (Background) 
Moustapha Mbaye 	Percussion 
Youssou N’Dour - vocals
Babatunde Olatunji 	Drums, Percussion
Alain Rodrigue Oyono 	Saxophone, Vocals (Background)
Thierno Sarr 	Bass, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Lead
Seinabo Sey 	Vocals
Spotless 	Programming, Vocals (Background) 

It’s useful, but not crucial, to know that History , the latest recording by the worldrenowned Senegalese vocalist Youssou N’Dour, honors the past—both his own and that of people who’ve inspired him. Among those falling into the latter category is Babatunde Olatunji, the late Nigerian drummer, whose influence on both other African artists and many in the West (just ask Carlos Santana and Mickey Hart) is incalculable. Two tracks on History , “My Child” and “Takuta,” feature the voice of the late Olatunji—the former is an easy-rolling, poignant dance number, the latter is a unified meld of hypnotic, circular African rhythm and Western groove that grabs from the first beat and never lets go. “Habib Faye,” meanwhile, the album’s opening track, is dedicated to N’Dour’s late bassist and musical director of that name: packed with percussive accents, it provides the first of several moments within the album that juxtapose the leader’s intoxicatingly expressive, gutsy delivery and ethereal, lithe wails. N’Dour takes a song to an unexpected place every last time. Some songs on History are remakes from his own catalog, often featuring younger guests and remodeled from the bottom up. Remixes of “Hello,” featuring Swedish-Congolese singer Mohombi, and “Birima,” with Sweden’s Seinabo Sey, would, in any just world, top the R&B sales charts. There are new tunes on History , N’Dour’s first new album in four years, as well: consistent with the older material and remixes, they show him to be on top of contemporary musical and production trends while losing none of his signature vocal style or allegiance to the culture that birthed him. While it’s not a groundbreaker on the order of his work from the ‘80s and ‘90s, History leaves no doubt that Youssou N’Dour is still a giant of African music. ---Jeff Tamarkin, relix.com

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