NTS aired an episode dedicated to the music of Baaba Maal on 26 September 2026. Baaba Maal has been played on NTS over 20 times, featured on 20 episodes and was first played on 11 November 2015.

Visionary singer, cultural ambassador, storyteller Baaba Maal wasn’t destined to be a performer - in West African culture, the ancient griot caste traditionally produces the singers and poets, and Maal was born in 1953 in the northern Senegal town of Podor into the fisherman's caste. Growing up surrounded by music, he defied expectation and became a musician. Maal formed the group Daande Lenol developing a distinctive sound fusing traditional African instruments with an electronic approach. 1988’s Wango was the first in a series of solo albums including Missing You, Lam Toro & Baayo. In 2015, he recorded The Traveller for Marathon Artists, reflecting his passion for exploring and blurring diverse musical forms. In 2018 he helped composer Ludwig Goransson soundtrack Marvel’s Black Panther. Established as the Voice of Wakanda, Maal is featured in the Black Panther sequel, 2022’s Wakanda Forever. Baaba Maal's next album, Being, will be released via Marathon Artists on March 31st 2023.

Baaba Maal will be headlining London's Barbican on the 30th of May.