Search - Kine Lam :: Praise

Kine Lam was clearly destined to be a big star in Senegal. She was born into a griot family and taken under the musical wing of Youssou N'Dour in the early '90s. She has a great voice, one that competes in tone and temperament with N'Dour's: rich, a little gritty, always overreaching just a bit. In fact, Praise sounds like a Youssou N'Dour album, with the same high-tech production, a heavy emphasis on bass and tama drum for the bottom, synths and horns for the top, a penchant for European pop clichés. It is pure mbalax--driving, rhythmic, and totally involved. The arrangements by Habib Faye never cross the line, though, remaining true to the local sound. Low-key but tasty guitar is supplied by Doudou Konare, and even the drum machines can't keep the whole thing too much in line. If there's a complaint, it is that the production never lets up enough to really showcase the voice in a more complex and subtle setting. In productions like this, it's the voice, and this is a voice to reckon with. --Louis Gibson