Mam Faal was born in Kartong, a small fishing village in the Gambia on the border with the Casamance region of Senegal, to a Gambian Serer father and a Senegalese Caroninka mother.  He was raised as a fisherman in the village of Kafountine, his mother's hometown.  However, Mam Faal's first passion was always for music and he grew up learning the music and dance of his people and of the other tribes living around him.  As a young boy he sang with one of the region's most prominent band's, 'Djinabantang', with whom he toured all over Casamance.  However, this met with disapproval from his family.  In Africa there are very strict 'rules' about being a musician.  Though the music is of course for everybody to enjoy, being a 'musician' is not something you can just choose to be in Africa in the same way as it is in the West where you can decide which instrument you'd like to learn and just take lessons.  African musicians are known as 'griots' and it is a life they are born into.
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However, convinced that there was more to life than fishing, Mam Faal packed his bags and headed for the big city of Dakar.  Not quite able to leave his fishing roots behind him, he  began work in a sardine factory, but as he settled into life in the city more and began to meet more people things began to change for him.  One of his neighbours owned a mobile PA system.  Dakar has always been one of the most prominent musical cities in West Africa, with major artists such as Youssou N'dour, Omar Pene, Baba Maal and Cheikh Lo all recording there,  so there was lots of recorded Senegalese pop music ('Mbalax') available on cassette which people loved to dance to.  There was therefore much demand for mobile PA system's and DJs!  However, the PA owner thought he was too old to operate as the DJ himself, and so agreed to let Mam Faal use his equipment to build up business for himself for a cut of the profits, naturally.  Mam Faal thus began his new career as a DJ and bought every tape available in Sandaga Market.  As well as the Senegalese Mbalax, salsa and reggae were also very popular, not only Jamaican reggae but also African reggae, and also Funana (popular music from Cap Verde and Guinea Bissau), Soukous (from Zaire) and the Manding music of Guinea and Mali.
Mam Faal soon built up a thriving business, playing music at traditional African events such as weddings and baptisms.  The griots would still come and perform the traditional part of the ceremony, but having a DJ meant that the party afterwards could then carry on all night! And this local business soon branched out into bars and clubs in the city centre also.  After many years of working as a DJ in Dakar, Mam Faal had saved up enough money to buy his own equipment, and as soon as he bought his own PA system he returned to Kafountine.  Of course, this sleepy fishing village with no running water or electricity had never seen anything like it before!  Mam Faal hired a generator and began working in his own home town and built up business once more, and has spend the last 10 years touring all over Casamance and the Gambia, and becoming something of a local hero at the same time!  This was the perfect compromise.  Mam Faal was able to dedicate his life to music without treading on anybody's toes.  He was able to earn a  living for himself and to help support his family.
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As well as working simply as a DJ, Mam Faal also became something of a cultural event organiser, helping to co-ordinate concerts and festivals all over the region.  Since his arrival in the UK Mam Faal has collaborated with many West African performers now working here, many of whom he has also worked with in Africa.  He has also become involved with community organisations such as Vital Arts and Cultural Co-operation, all of whom are doing fantastic work in raising the profile of world artists in the UK. 

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