For over 45 years, Youssou N’Dour has been a global ambassador for Senegalese music, collecting accolades that range from a Grammy for Egypt to honorary doctorates from Yale and Berklee Valencia in Spain. Now, with Éclairer le Monde - Light The World, he reaffirms his place at the forefront of world music, blending tradition with modernity in a way only he can.

For Éclairer le Monde - Light The World, every instrument, from the kora and balafon to the flute and sokou, was chosen and recorded with special care. The result is an album that feels both deeply rooted in heritage and strikingly fresh. At the heart of this fusion is American producer Michael League, the Snarky Puppy co-founder who brings his signature feeling and precision, laying down bass, guitars, ukulele, and keyboards while curating a dream team of musicians.

The roster is as international as the album’s message: Atlanta’s Munir Zakee on drums, New York’s Frank Locrasto on piano, Madrid’s Momi Maiga on kora, and longtime N’Dour collaborators like Mbaye Dieye Faye, Thio Mbaye, Assane Thiam, and Tapha Gaye. League’s co-producer, Weedie Braimah - born in Ghana, raised in Cleveland, and steeped in jazz percussion - adds his rhythmic expertise, elevating the album’s intricate, percussive heartbeat.

Recorded in a small stone house in the Catalonian village of El Prats de Rei, the sessions had the intimacy of a family gathering, one fueled by music and Michael League’s talent in the kitchen as much as in the studio. “I enjoyed myself for three weeks, both in the studio and at the table!” N’Dour laughs. That joy is obvious in the album’s sound, an effortless blend of rich textures and global influences.