Other highlights include “Hip Hop Rek,” with it’s rapid fire vocal line over slow, moaning chants, the reggae-tinged “Soldat” and  the semi-acoustic almost pop ballad, “Boy Souba Si Ngone.”

Fa’s subject matter can be dark, touching on the lives of soldiers, working women, AIDS and female genital mutilation — of which she is a victim and a vocal activist against — but the music that contains these lyrics is uplifting and defiant. A language barrier — she unfurls her words in Wolof, Manding, Jola and French — might make this point moot, but it’s important to in some way match the drama and passion in the delivery of both Fa and her back-up singers.

Fa reigns over an apparently vast Senegalese hip-hop nation, much of it situated in her hometown of Dakar, and it’s easy to see why she’s shot to the top. Her positive image not only for Senegalese women but Muslims is matched by her musical ability and her success at mixing heritage and sound together.