Ismael Lo

Like any aspiring popstar, this sweet-voiced world-music natural from Niger and Dakar thrives on a format that isolates his trickiest tunes. Not especially danceable, too slick to power through the wall of incomprehension that separates Anglophones from his multilingual homilies, this best-of showcases an expansive adept of Eurovision style. The synthesizer isn't my favorite ax either. But it can cut through the undergrowth like anything else. (Grade - B+)