Selbe Diouf is anything but an unknown personality in the Senegalese hip-hop/rap scene. For more than 15 years she has been making music under her artist name Sister LB and since 2017 she has been performing with her all-female hip-hop collective Gënji Hip Hop. “Gënji” means “woman” in Wolof, the language spoken mainly in Senegal, and thus clearly represents the focus of the collective’s approximately 70 active rappers, singers, DJ*s, beat makers, graffiti artists. All of these artists have committed themselves to fight for their rights and freedoms, to overcome social and cultural stereotypes and stigmas, to empower Black Women of Color on an artistic and musical level and to offer space for (musical) development and identification.
Growing up as a child of a thoroughly artistic family – her mother was a dancer, on of her grandfathers was a guitarist, the other a pianist – Sister LB found her passion in rapping, but also practiced producing beats. She was also trained in sound and light: a “self-made” power woman who not only proclaims the empowerment of Black Women of Color in her music, but also lives it! Despite her numerous activities in the Senegalese hip-hop scene and her performances on some of the country’s biggest stages (including the all-female project “Freevoices” at festivals such as Festa2H, Fête de la Musique, Institut Français de Dakar, Urban Women Week, Hip Hop Galsen), Sister LB has been devoting herself increasingly to her solo career since 2019 and has already announced a new solo album. In this sense, it is not surprising that Sister LB who always calls her mother her closest ally and best friend, has dedicated her solo single “Ji Gën” (released in spring 2019) to all those strong women who go through life every day with courage and love, standing up for themselves and their dreams.
