Makossa

When Paul Simon released the commercially successful single ‘Proof’ (with the arrangements of Vincent Nguini) in 1990, it was an attestation of the potency of Bikutsi, one of the prevailing genres of Cameroonian music. Makossa and Bikutsi for long dominated the Cameroonian music scene, earning international recognition for many artists. In fact, one of the defining moments of global music has to be the 1972 release of Manu Dibango’s Billboard Hot 100 song, Soul Makossa, that has been credited with the creation of the international ‘DISCO’ sound. The impact of Makossa is still best felt through its contribution to the new African pop sound. In 2010, Shakira released ‘Waka Waka’, an adaptation of the 1983 Cameroonian classic Zangalewa, that has its roots in these venerated genres. This came at a period when ‘Naija’ or Nigerian afrobeats is enjoying a wave of success across the world. But it is also undeniable that that Makossa has had a deep influence in transforming the ‘Afrobeat’ of Fela Kuti to the ‘Afrobeats’ sounds that has propelled Nigerian artists like Flavour and Iyanya to such international superstardom. At the same time, a wave of Cameroonian musicians from the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, to whom the world had been mostly oblivious, has awoken with a new afro-pop sound that is impossible to ignore. They have also borrowed from Makossa, blending French phrases and their own pidgin creole that is similar but richer in diversity than Nigerian pidgin - and they today are presenting a new rapturous sound that is beautiful, simple and earnest. Thanks to this, Cameroon is witnessing the creation of a brand new, lively urban musical scene that is rich in texture and variety. And the rise of these artists signals a rise in social consciousness of a youth that have for decades been deemed as voiceless – but who have finally found their voice, and are stepping into the limelight with the assurance that their place in the social and cultural fabric of Cameroon, and Africa, can no longer be usurped. Enjoy and share Makossa.