Name: Aba Diop
Nationality: Senegalese
Instrument: Sabar percussion
Current release: Aba Diop & the Yermande Family's new album Family is out via Dal Diam Fall.
Current event: Friday 12th June 2026 will see the next instalment of Chiminyo's acclaimed NRG Series, taking place at IKLECTIK, Peckham Levels. Aba Diop is one of the artists featured on the bill that night, alongside  
Theon Cross (sax), Idris Rahman (sax), Amané (synths), FFSYTHO (MC), and Chiminyo (drums). For tickets, go here. 
Recommendations for Dakar, Senegal: In Dakar, there is the Institut Français and Just For You, and the music there is always good. And then there are weddings and baptisms, where you can find the best music.

[Read our Chiminyo interview]
[Read our Ill Considered featuring Idris Rahman interview]

If you enjoyed this Aba Diop interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.



When it comes to experiencing the sensation of “energy” as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

I listen to my album a lot. It inspires me to go on a journey and to keep moving forward on my path.

A good example is the song “Baye Fall du Badola”, because it opens up so many things as it grows.



There can be many different kinds of energy in art – soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

The healing journey, because that is how I feel the energy in my music. My music heals, my instruments, which come from African tradition, were made to heal.

That is what I want to give to the world: the healing of Africa.

I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song with a particular energy, does it tend to fill you with the same energy – or are there “paradoxical” effects?

The healing rhythms come softly and gradually grow, so it is a journey. And that is what the rhythms do. It is a journey of rhythm.

I live with the piece; my music is not something you simply play, it is inside you, and the energy you release through the instruments is the energy you give to the people.

In as far as it plays a role for the music you like listening to or making, what role do words and the voice of a vocalist play for the transmission of energy?

We have words we sing that touch the djinn (spirits), and words we sing that touch the Sufi zikr.

The words we sing correspond with what we play. That is what creates the phrases of the music. It is the key that opens the door to the journey.

When it comes to experiencing the sensation of “energy” as a creator, how would you describe the physical sensation of experiencing this energy?

It is something you cannot explain. It is like the ocean, it is infinite. It never stops, it keeps growing. You cannot explain it.

The ocean holds nothing bad within it. It cleanses everything in the spirit. It is a cleansing of the heart, a cleansing of the mind, a cleansing of the human being.

When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture energy best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

Every time I go into the studio, before I even arrive, I already know what I want to do. So when we get there, we go straight into the energy we are looking for.

It is direct. And we play what is inside us. That is why we want things to stay as natural as possible. Most of the time, we play something once or twice. That is enough.

Sometimes there are pieces that call for many percussion parts layered one by one, so I record each percussion part separately, each on its own track.

How much of the energy of your own music, would you say, is already part of the composition, how much of it is the result of the recording process?

The energy of my music lives in the compositions, because we do not want to strip away the nature of what we do.

Most of the time, we stay natural.

For your current album Family, what kind of energy were you looking for?

For Family, I sought the energy of healing, that is the spirit, and of journeying.

That is what we put into it. That was the energy.

How do you capture the energy you want in the studio?

I am the one who brings it there.

I live with the energy before I ever go into the studio. When I arrive, that is what I put in.

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general for in terms of creating the energy you want?

I work with a great engineer who understands me, and it is always the same person, someone who already understands our energy.

He also really knows how to compress the percussion.

In terms of energy, what changes when you're performing live on stage, with an audience present, compared to the recording stage?

I don't see a difference, because the energy is always with me, I create things from within myself. It is always my interior that drives it.

It is the same for everyone in my group. We all work in the same way.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the energy of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

I always exchange directly with the audience. Because I know well how to travel with my energy, and I know well what the moment calls for.

I communicate a lot with my audience. I love connecting with them.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

Every time we play, the response comes back to the same thing: I felt healed, I felt things I have never felt before.

The answer comes back every time from the people. And that is what we always want, that is our intention.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the energy or do you surrender to it and allow the music to take over? Who, ultimately has control during a live performance?

Every concert, you are the one who begins, but it is the djinns who finish the concert. We start, but it is always the djinns who end up playing. They take you on the journey.

You know it is not you anymore, it is the djinns.

The energy that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How, do you think, can artists make use of this energy to bring about change in the world?

Artists play to heal the world, because the world is sick. We put our energy into healing the world.

Music is my whole passion. Since the day I was born. It is the only thing I know. That is my passion.