Senegalese singer-songwriter-activist Youssou N'Dour, who released five albums on Nonesuch Records over the span of a decade, has been named Senegal's Minister of Culture and Tourism in the new government formed by Prime Minister Abdul Mbaye. N'Dour, who had been a candidate for President before being disqualified, is one of 25 ministers that make up the cabinet of the country's new President, Macky Sall. Sall began his presidency on Monday, an event N'Dour helped to celebrate with a live performance in one of Dakar's main squares, the BBC reports.

Upon Sall's victory at the polls over then-President Abdoulaye Wade, and the former leader's concession, N'Dour said: "It is a great day for Senegal, a great day for Africa," reports the Agence France Press (AFP). "[N]ow we can get to work! I am very happy, very moved. It is democracy which has won."

Youssou N'Dour, whom NPR included among the world's 50 great voices last year, released his first record on Nonesuch, Joko (The Link), in 2000, followed by Nothing's in Vain (Coono du réér) in 2002. In 2004, he released Egypt, an exploration of his Islamic faith that would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music and became the subject for the documentary film I Bring What I Love; Nonesuch released the film's soundtrack in 2010. The Washington Post described N'Dour's 2007 studio album, Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take), as “intricate, indigenous, and characteristically exhilarating.”