"I believe that I was born to sing, because since I was five years old, music was calling me." -- Baaba Maal
This week on African Voices, we profile Baaba Maal, a very modern "griot" -- a world-renowned musician whose unique mix of the old and the new is bringing a fresh audience to African music.
Born in 1953 in Senegal into a family of fishermen, the idea of becoming a musician and storyteller -- or "griot" -- must have felt like a far-off dream to Baaba Maal.
The griot is one of the most iconic figures in Western Africa: a mixture of poet, singer, historian, journalist, and advisor. It's a hereditary position, passed down from generation to generation, and is central to both the community in which Baaba Maal grew up, and to Senegal.
"I am not from the griot family," Maal told CNN. "I was not supposed to sing, even if I had a very nice voice." 
Read full article »
CNN's Kirsty Hinton and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
