Fresh from being one of the featured vocalists on the Black Panther movie franchise, Baaba Maal is back with a new album and has plenty left to say. Today, he releases the video for ‘Agreement’, a song about being truthful in all your relationships, a sentiment based on a proverb from his Senegalese community. The track will feature on Being, his new album, which is due to be released on March 31 via Marathon. Here’s what Baaba has to say about the track:

“Agreement is about the relationships you make in your life, whether they are with friends, musicians, neighbours, people you love. When you say to people, we are going on this journey through life together, through good times and bad, you should be very sure that you mean it… It’s based on a proverb from my community – to say no at the beginning to the idea that we will always be together is much stronger and more noble that beginning a relationship and then cutting it short later, maybe 40 years later. Be mature enough to take seriously an agreement you make with someone about the future, about your souls being connected.”

The song features Baaba alongside Barou Sall, one of his long-time collaborators, on the hoddu, as well as Mamadou Sarr on percussion. It was produced by Johan Hugo.

An in-depth interview with Baaba Maal and a review of Being will appear in the May 2023 issue of Songlines.Never miss an issue – subscribe today