[Afropop] When we spoke with Salif Keita before the Pandemic, he told us, not for the first time, that he was ready to retire from recording and performing. Not long afterwards, he released what he said would be his last album, Un Autre Blanc. His urge to withdraw from the world was likely reinforced in 2022 when he lost a key ally, his longtime friend and manager Chris Syren, who died at age 64.