Alright Sufi! You're the man to ask about this type of thing anyway. In response to head's question about African music blogs I will, if I may, pass on another one of your recommendations, the great
Ben Loxo du Taccù blog. Truly great stuff, ear and mind opening every time, as well as being written with knowledge and a great love for the subject.
About hiphop being hotter currency than reggae these days: I suppose what's on the airwaves is really what inspires imitation, not any suitability for carrying lyrics. So 50Cent rules supreme I would wager.
Etoile 2000, what is the relation to (Super) Etoile de Dakar again? I got a bunch of SED albums a while back (compilation series that goes to vol. 9, I forget the label. Sterns I guess?) and was reminded of the awesome vocal talent to have fronted that group, Youssou N'Dour of course but also El Hadji Faye are fantastic singers.
Senegal seems to have more than its fair share of top flight vocalists: the Touré Kunda brothers, Baaba Maal, Soulimane Faye, Mansour Seck, El Hadji N'Daye... I'm sure to be forgetting others of equal or even greater merit. Interesting also the sufi tradition of the Moride (sp?) praise singers (Cheikh Lô, Mme. Coumba Gawlo...).
I have always thought many Senegalese singers, firmly rooted in the griot tradition, have something of a muezzin's delivery and tone about them, that incredible phrasing and microtonal control that great khyal and qawwali, even some flamenco singers have. It completely floors me every time.
On the hip hop tip, Senegal also has two of West Africa's most known groups, Pee Froiss and Positive Black Soul, both of which (esp. PBS) I have had the great pleasure of seeing deliver absolutely spellbinding performances.
Ah, Magic System. ANother great group with a stage show that has to be seen to be believed - for some reason they play in Austria of all places every year or so. Mapouka madness, wonderful. Apart from their stuff the only thing I've ever heard compilation-wise by them was something with an awful title like
Magic System presents African dancefloor or something similar -- but great selection IIRC. Any more like this?