Thione Ballago Seck (March 12, 1955 – March 14, 2021) was a Senegalese singer and musician in the mbalakh genre. Seck came from a family of “griot” singers from the Wolof people of Senegal. His first job was with Orchestre Baobab, but he later formed his own band, Raam Daan, of which he was a member until his death in 2021.

Seck’s album Orientation was one of four nominated for BBC Radio 3‘s World Music Album of the Year in 2006. In much of his music, and notably on this album, Seck experiments with the use of Indian & Arabic scales. This supplements his laid back vocals and the band’s intense sabar driven rhythms, and displaces the band’s more usual guitars, horns, and synthesizers. This album was made in collaboration with a range of more than 40 North African, Arab, and Indian musicians, playing diverse instruments and creating a fusion of styles. Seck has stated that Bollywood films were a longstanding musical influence for him, and the experiment in a fusion style reflects this.

Other albums include XV Anniversary Live! (his second international release) and Daaly. He contributed “Laye M’Boup,” a tribute to the late Orchestre Baobab leader, to The Music in My Head soundtrack. Seck also wrote “Entends-tu le monde?” which was the lead single from Australian singer Tina Arena‘s seventh studio album 7 vies.

On June 22, 2020, Thione Seck was convicted of “attempted scam”, “money laundering”, “criminal association” and “attempted circulation, possession and reception of falsified monetary signs.” He was sentenced on appeal to three years in prison, including eight months in prison (covered by the nine months served upon his initial arrest in 2015).

On 14 March 2021, Seck died in Dakar following an illness, at the age of 66.