ABA ÑEW NA!

On August 29, 2025, Family, the highly-anticipated new album from Aba Diop & the Yermande Family, arrives as both a celebration and a revelation. Anchored by master sabar percussionist and griot lineage-bearer Aba Diop, the album introduces a deeply intergenerational, international ensemble that includes kora master Noumoucounda Cissoko, tama virtuoso Samba Ndokh, bassist Thierno Sarr, guitarist Jason Hosier, vocal powerhouse Zeyna Ngom Diop, and special guest keyboardist John Medeski. Together, they bring sabar—Senegal’s healing, celebratory drumming tradition—into the global spotlight as a powerful and essential voice in contemporary music.

The album’s first single, "Aba Ñew Na!" ("Aba Is Here!"), sets the tone: an ebullient, high-energy track that announces Diop’s arrival with polyrhythmic fire and joyful call-and-response. Driven by Diop’s hand-carved sabar drums and recorded between Dakar and upstate New York, Family is a boundary-crossing, spirit-forward celebration of tradition, community, and musical healing. Produced by Senegalese studio legend Lamp and recorded in part by Grammy-winning engineer Danny Blume, the album features pristine sonic craftsmanship that retains the raw energy of live griot improvisation.

Raised in Dakar, Diop descends from an unbroken line of griots—poet-musicians entrusted with preserving spiritual and cultural history. "My mother was griot. My father was griot. All of my grandparents were griots," Diop says. "They taught us rhythm and respect. That’s what I bring to this music." Now based in the U.S., Diop has performed internationally with Yo-Yo Ma, Yussef Dayes, John Medeski and onstage in Goddess at The Public Theater. With Family, he steps forward as a bandleader, composer, and cultural bridge-builder, placing sabar at the center of a new, genre-fluid musical language.

From the meditative spiritual grooves of "Bamba Ji" to the slow-burning crescendo of "Baye Fall Du Badola" featuring Medeski’s celestial organ, the album affirms sabar’s capacity to carry stories, connect generations, and unite people across continents. "Our percussion heals," Diop explains. "There are rhythms that create peace, that bring joy, that lead people to the light." The group’s name, Yermande—meaning compassion and care in Wolof—reflects their ethos of unity, humility, and musical generosity.

Aba Ñew Na! is available now on all major streaming platforms. Family will be released worldwide on August 29, 2025.