Presidential elections are due in Senegal in February.
The man to beat is three-term incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade.
Among other candidates is Senegalese musician and political activist Youssou N’Dour.
He announced his candidacy Tuesday saying that he sees running for president as a “supreme patriotic duty.”
N’Dour’s candidacy is perfect fodder for John Street, who studies the intersection of music and politics.
Street is a professor at the University of East Anglia in the UK and author of the book “Music and Politics.”