Fatoumata Diawara

Afropop phenom Fatoumata Diawara hopes to follow the lead of her mentor, Oumou Sangaré, and stake her claim to a position on the world stage. A dynamic performer who makes her hotly anticipated Twin Cities debut this weekend, her debut album, “Fatou,” strikes a serious note with songs about genital mutilation and the plight of children in her war-torn homeland, Mali. She recently convened a Malian supergroup, including Amadou & Mariam, Toumani Diabaté and Sangare, to record “Mali-ko,” a plea for peace. But a sense of joy is never far below her music’s shimmering surface. Tim Campbell