Mamadou Djebate- Mansane Cisse

Mansane Cissé is the story of a rich man who lived in the village Bitang in Gambia, near the Niger river (called Bolongo in Mandinka). Mansane Cissé fell in love with a young woman who was already engages with a poor farmer, and forced her parents to break the engagement so he could marry her, but on the day of the wedding he suddenly became ill and died. The message in the song is to not be greedy, or you may find yourself in trouble. Mamadou Diebate is a young kora player from Darsalam outside Ziguinchor, and the son of Malang Koulay Djebate. The Djebate/Diabate/Jobarteh family is one of the oldest griot families, and can be found in Mali, Guinée Bissau, Gambia as well as southern Senegal. They are especially famous for playing the kora. Mamadou is one of very few young Jali (griots) who hasn’t changed to a key kora, and keeps the old oral tradition alive.