Les inconditionnels de l'afro feeling peuvent s'y retrouver. Cette bataille de l'identité gagnée, « Moom Tamit », dernière cassette du « Super Diamono » sur le marché, laisse une place à un mbalakh sans fioritures en même temps qu'il ouvre la porte à la génération hip-hop.
Avec Myamba, (Faces / Discograph), son nouvel album, Omar Pène, le leader du Super Diamono, groupe phare de la musique sénégalaise, explore un nouvel habillage musical qui devrait séduire un public international.
Partis en Gambie Omar Pene et le Super Diamono y rencontrent Ismaël Lô en 1980 avec qui ils restent durant 5 longues années de 1978 à 1983 avant de revenir dans la Casamance et le Kaolack du Sénégal, doté d'une musique gagnante de richesse, de nouveauté et d'avant-gardisme.
En 1983, un premier contrat international fait ses marques sur un « Soweto » complet qui résonne sur toutes les radios, et un « People » single qui se voit élu tube de l'été 87 par la diaspora africaine de Paris. Ils parcourent alors le monde du Paleo Festival de Suisse, au Womad d'Angleterre, sans toutefois négliger leur public du pays….
Senegal's Omar Pene & Super Dianamo might play m'balax, the same style that helped make an international star out of Youssou N'Dour, but their take on it is very different. Instead of a busy, chattering talking drum puncturing the rhythm, they use horns and, especially, the guitar to establish their rhythms, and draw from a number of musical sources, including the sophistication jazz chordings and even reggae, whose influence can be slightly felt on the opener "Aral Sa Dom." And unlike his countryman, Pene doesn't possess the high griot's wail; his voice is deeper and more soulful, more attuned to American music.
OMAR PENE & Le SUPER DIAMANO de DAKAR "The only other mbalax superstar that rivals Youssou Ndour inside Senegal
For 30 years, with his group Super Diamono, Omar Pène has been by far the uncontested favorite of the students, and the young people of the suburbs of Dakar.
His musical style baptized as "afro-feeling" is a mixture of Senegalese sounds such as mbalax and influences drawn from the blues and jazz. His lyrics (about chronic social issues, paying homage or educational messages), his tumultuous and anti-conformist history (as a child, left his parents' house for the street), and his simplicity, as much as his music, has won him the admiration of his fans. Omar Pène grew in Pikine in the Dakar suburbs and very early became part of those who one could call the "problem children". He was 13 years old when he left his parents. Invited to join the neighborhood football team to defend the colors of the district, he was part of the junior champion navétane team; and was signed to the football school - Jaraaf.
For 25 years already, Omar Pène has been a brilliant figure of the Senegalese musical scene. Today, along with his group Super Diamono, the singer has become a star for students and Dakar’s suburban youth.
Grandit d'une famille divisée, dans la plus importante banlieue dakaroise de Pikine, dès 13 ans, Omar Pène doit affronter la vie dans sa plus dure réalité…celle de la rue où grâce à son tempérament ouvert et doux, premier à participer à toutes les actvités de son quartier, il se fait aimer de tous. À cette époque, et tandis que sa passion du ballon l'emporte sur d'immenses rêves de footballeur professionnel, il ignore tout encore de la beauté de sa voix.
It was back in 1972 that the life of Senegalese singer Omar Pene was transformed by advice from his music guide and teacher Baïla Diagne. The instructor persuaded young Omar to turn his back on a promising career as a football player and devote himself to his vocal talents and hard-hitting lyrics. His inspired advice has spawned one of West Africa’s most popular artists. Pene and his Super Diamono band have been an enduring feature of the cultural landscape in Senegal. They celebrated their 30th birthday in December 2004 before Pene launched his much-awaited international solo career with the release “Myamba”.
Les inconditionnels de l'afro feeling peuvent s'y retrouver. Cette bataille de l'identité gagnée, « Moom Tamit », dernière cassette du « Super Diamono » sur le marché, laisse une place à un mbalakh sans fioritures en même temps qu'il ouvre la porte à la génération hip-hop.
Extrait : Soweto 
Senegal's Omar Pene & Super Dianamo might play m'balax, the same style that helped make an international star out of Youssou N'Dour, but their take on it is very different. Instead of a busy, chattering talking drum puncturing the rhythm, they use horns and, especially, the guitar to establish their rhythms, and draw from a number of musical sources, including the sophistication jazz chordings and even reggae, whose influence can be slightly felt on the opener "Aral Sa Dom." And unlike his countryman, Pene doesn't possess the high griot's wail; his voice is deeper and more soulful, more attuned to American music.
OMAR PENE & Le SUPER DIAMANO de DAKAR
Grandit d'une famille divisée, dans la plus importante banlieue dakaroise de Pikine, dès 13 ans, Omar Pène doit affronter la vie dans sa plus dure réalité…celle de la rue où grâce à son tempérament ouvert et doux, premier à participer à toutes les actvités de son quartier, il se fait aimer de tous. À cette époque, et tandis que sa passion du ballon l'emporte sur d'immenses rêves de footballeur professionnel, il ignore tout encore de la beauté de sa voix. 
