A superstar in his native Senegal, spiritual pop singer Baaba Maal was not even born to be a performer — in West African culture, tradition dictates that the ancient griot caste must produce the singers and storytellers, and Maal was born in the city of Podor in 1953 into the fishermans caste. Despite his parents insistence that he become a lawyer, he grew up surrounded by music, absorbing both the traditional sounds of the region as well as American R&B and soul, later discovering jazz and blues.