Before we get to our interview, let me tell you the story about how I got to meet , a world-famous griot, or West African storyteller. While interning for Audible Range, we ran stories about and . This got me curious about other storytelling traditions. A lot of my friends are of African descent, and I’ve always wondered about the different cultures of their heritage. I see people walking around wearing African-inspired clothing like dashikis, or listening to their daily dose of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which was inspired by African style and culture. I had heard about the West African storytelling tradition of griot in school, and I wanted to dive deeper and investigate, to hear it from the source.
My research led me to , a professor at Penn State University, and author of the book After a fascinating interview, Dr. Hale introduced me to his longtime friend Alhaji Papa Susso, who generously agreed to visit Audible headquarters for an interview and performance.
Dr. Hale told me that griots have sustained power in West African culture, despite enduring many trials and tribulations throughout their history. Griots have been around for centuries, and, through music and storytelling, have passed on the true history and culture of West Africa by continually reminding communities of their heritage, despite an ever-changing world. As technology spreads throughout Africa, women gain power and influence in West African society, and griots continue to travel around the world to perform, the role of griots will inevitably change with the times, as it always has, but they will likely remain an important part of West African culture, as they have for ages.
As Papa Susso proudly proclaimed at the end of our interview: “I’m a griot! I will be a griot until I die!”
Read on for highlights from from our interview, and watch him perform a traditional griot song on his , which his father made for him in 1941, accompanied by player Wuye Jassey.
N’Kaela Webster: What is a griot?
Papa Susso: Griots are traditional musicians, oral historians, poets, counselors, and entertainers. They were attached to the royal courts to recount the tribal history of African people and also compose commemorative songs and perform in important tribal ceremonies like weddings, or the naming of a child, or ritual circumcision. So the duty of the griot in African society is very important, because they tell the people who they are, where they came from, and where they’re supposed to head to. The work of the griot is recounting the tribal history of our people. The griot deals with the reality [of] things that happened within the society in the past. Storytellers deal with mythology.
