Diogal Sakho was born in 1970 in a small Senegalese village. He is a member of the Lébou clan of fisherman from the Senegalese Coast. As a child, Diogal would listen to his uncles playing music. He taught himself to play guitar and soon began composing his own songs. In 1996, Loy Ehrlich (who played with Touré Kunda, Youssou N'dour and Geoffrey Oryema, among others) noticed Diogal's talent and helped him record his first two cassettes for the Senegalese market.