Daara J Family in Cosaan mode: Dakar dates its legends, Saturday at Terrasse du COP 21

Dakar (Senegal), November 5, 2026. “J-2, la famille!” The countdown was launched by the group itself, dressed in tradi-modern outfits in its official photo: this Saturday, November 7, the rendez-vous is at COP 21 with Daara J Family. The venue: Terrasse du COP 21, the Almadies-Corniche restaurant that has become one of Dakar nightlife's friendliest stages. The time: 9 p.m. And a watchword in a single Wolof word: cosaan — origin, heritage, roots.

Icons of African rap, thirty years of school

Daara J — “the school” in Wolof — was born in Dakar in the early 1990s, around Faada Freddy (Abdou Fatah Seck) and Ndongo D (Mamadou Lamine Seck), soon joined by Lord Aladji Man. The group became a spearhead of Senegalese hip-hop, blending rap, reggae, soul and the country's traditions, with lyrics in Wolof, French and English. In 2003, the album “Boomerang” (Wrasse Records, featuring Rokia Traoré) carried their core idea: hip-hop, born in Africa, carried away on the slave ships, and back like a boomerang. The album won the 2004 BBC World Music Award for Best African Act.

What followed played out on the world's biggest stages: more than 1,000 concerts, opening slots for Wyclef Jean at Lincoln Center and Mos Def at the Hollywood Bowl, tours with Public Enemy, Peter Gabriel's WOMAD, Damon Albarn's Africa Express in London and Lagos, Trans Musicales and Solidays. In 2007-2008, after Aladji Man's departure, the trio became a duo and took the name Daara J Family. Then came the albums “School of Life” (2010), “Foundation” (2016) and “Yaamatele” (2020, with Gaël Faye) — while Faada Freddy built an acclaimed solo career in parallel, with “Gospel Journey” (2015).

One week after the Olympic flame

Saturday's rendez-vous caps a historic week. On October 31, Daara J Family was among the performers at the opening ceremony of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, alongside Baaba Maal, Kiné Lam and Souleymane Faye — the first Olympic event ever held on the African continent, which Festival TV is covering daily. From the Olympic rings to the Almadies terrace: the legend goes on, this time up close and in festive dress.

Cosaan: heritage becomes a dress code

“Cosaan” is more than a concert title: it is the name of the single released on May 30, 2025, the manifesto of a new direction — memory, traditions, dialogue of cultures — carried on in 2026 by the track “Jàmmarloo”. On Saturday, the audience is invited to play along down to the outfit: dress code “Cosaan — tradi-modern”, between boubous, local fabrics and contemporary touches. A night designed as a celebration of roots, by two artists who never stopped singing them.