Nkotti Francois a.k.a. Destoppeleire 15/2/1953 - 4/8/2021

NKOTTI FRANCOIS was born in 1953 in Souza, a small town of the Littoral region of Cameroun. He spent his childhood there, where he attended the Catholic Mission and later, the St Herbert secundary school of Souza. He took his first steps in music while attending the Catholic mission of Souza as an altar boy. In the 60’s at the age of 12, playing with his guitar made out of bark, he founded his first band, the Paris Jazz Orchestra and gave performances at funerals as well as at town’s fairs and reunions. Due to a lack of funds, he was unable to persue his studies to become a priest, his childhood dream. Therefore, he decided to fully dedicate himself to music.

Francois arrived in Douala in 1970, and quickly became a singer for a cabaret orchestra called La Famille Bar, led by Nkotti Augustin and located in the district of Deido. Night after night, he felt more and more confident on stage, but after some arguments within the band, he decided to leave the group.

 
In 1972 he was hired by Toto Ekane Felix, the owner of the Davoum Club, a cabaret located in the popular district of Akwa. Known in the 60’s as Pachanga Cabaret Dancing, this place was very popular with veterans of Cameroonian music such as Emmanuel Nelle Eyoum. In the Davoum Club he soon became a key member of the cabaret orchestra, singing with them every evening. One night, a guitarist arrived and asked to play with the group. He turned out to be a very good musician, who was familiar with all the popular songs of the time. Nkotti Francois asked the guitarist Mouelle Jean, to join them. After a while, Mouelle Jean introduces Toto Guillaume, a friend who was a solo guitarist to Nkotti Francois, and who subsequently introduced Francois to Essongue Antoine, a drummer. On another occasion Emile Kangue - a bassist and singer – asked to play along with them on stage, and also ended up joining the group. Step by step all the original musicians of the cabaret orchestra were replaced. In fact, it was now a completely new band and that included a new name. Toto Guillaume suggested "Black Styl", a name to which the other band members unanimously agreed. Unfortunately for the new formed band, Los Calvinos - a competitor orchestra led by Misse Ngoh - which was very fashionable at the time, managed however to convince the owner of the "Davoum Club" to replace the "Black Styl".

Nkotti Francois went looking for a solution and found it in Bonaberi, a neighbouring municipality of Douala. He visited the Oryx Club, and asked the owner if the Black Styl could perform there. The owner agreed, and was after the show so convinced of the band’s qualities, that he contracted the Black Styl as his house band. From that moment, the popularity of the Black Styl really soared. Every evening the band played popular songs from Cameroon and all around the world, attracting people from Bonaberi and Douala.

Although thrilled by their growing success, the band members wanted to record their own type of Makossa , which became more and more popular after the worldwide success of Manu Dibango with his hit Soul Makossa in 1973/1974. Toto Guillaume took the initiative to write a letter to the French record label Sonafric asking if they were willing to release some of their songs. Sonafric responded with interest and asked the band to send a demo. Nkotti Francois, Toto Guillaume, Emile Kangue and Mouelle Jean composed two songs each. All the eight songs were recorded and sent to France. Sonafric selected two songs. Na bolone ndol'a ngo - better known as Francoise- composed by Toto Guillaume and Ndutu, composed by Nkotti Francois) which were pressed on the same 45rpm single. The songs were extremely successfull, putting the Black Styl on the spotlight of the 70’s Cameroon music scene. Not long after, the band was contracted by a Cameroonian record label, Disques Cousin, which will later release many of their successful 45rpm singles.

♫ Audio: 1974 – Nkotti Francois & Black Styl - Ndutu 4:02

In 1976 the Black Styl left the "Orix Bar" in Bonaberi to play at the Joie d'Ete cabaret, and then at the Mermoz Bar. It is during this time that Toto Guillaume left the group because he had the opportunity to study music in Paris. He was replaced by Monny Muller. In 1977, the band recorded their first LP with Disques Cousin, De Bonaberi à Douala, the only album of Nkotti Francois and the Black Styl recorded in Cameroon. Their following albums were all recorded in Paris. In 1978 the Black Styl travelled to France to record their second album, Les Black Styl à Paris in the Marcadet recording studio. They performed in multiple French cities, including Lyon and Paris at the Bataclan concert hall. 

♫ Audio: 1977 – Nkotti Francois & Black Styl – Black Styl Mwasa 4:43

After 1980, the momentum for the Black Styl seems to have passed. After some internal tensions, Emile Kangue left in 1979 to build a solo career. Also the personal problems of Monny Muller have a negative impact on the band. Although Nkotti Francois tries to keep the Black Styl alive until the nineties, he too chose to concentrate on building a solo career. In the years that followed, Nkotti Francois released ten new LPs and CDs under his own name, in addition to several compilation albums. 

♫ Audio: 1981 – Nkotti Francois – Na Ma Timba Souza 7:38

♫ Audio: 1985 – Nkotti Francois – Nkowanga 6:22

♫ Audio: 1989 – Nkotti Francois – Na Dedi Mbaka 5:52

♫ Video Clip: 1993 – Nkotti Francois – Benyenge Ba Desto 6:58

He also releases three albums under the name Black Styl. From 2000 his album production slowly declined although he continued to perform regularly and released a few songs from time to time. In 2005, he visited the United States and performed in Washington and Chicago, among other places. In 2007, he gave a number of concerts in France and in 2011 in Canada, where he celebrated his 40th anniversary as a musician during performances for the Cameroonian community there. In 2015, he released a new album entitled Ekwad'a Mulema. 

♫ Video Clip: 2015 – Nkotti Francois – Ekwad’a MUlema 5:28

He is then 65 years old. In 2017, he achieves another modest international success when the French record label Nangaboka Records re-releases the first Black Styl album De Bonaberi à Douala. Also in 2018, the small independent label Ketu Records releases 12inch maxi single containing two songs from the 1980 album Nkotti Francois et les Black Styl. 

♫ Live: 2018 – Nkotti Francois – 0:00 Njaka – 8:42 Muwaso Ma Longe – 12:14 Loko La Mboa

Mutzig Star winning artists

The fact that Nkotti Francois' album production slowly declined in the new millennium, did not mean that he has slowed down. On the contrary, as his solo career slowed down, his activities in the service of young musical talent and the community increased. In 1989, together with the Mutzig brewery, he founded a very successful annual musical talent hunt called Mutzig Star, which later resulted in the breakthrough of artists such as Benji Mateke, Longue Longue and Belka Tobis.

Since 1993, he has also been the main promoter and organiser of the successful cultural festival FOMARIC (Foire Musicale Artistique Industrielle et Commerciale), which is held annually in Douala and will have its 30th edition in 2022. He has also been increasingly involved in local politics since the early 2000s, calling attention to issues such as the environment, youth, health and education. Between 2002 and 2011, he was twice elected mayor of Bonalea, a municipality north of Douala. 

In 2021, Nkotti Francois celebrated not only his 70th birthday, but also the 50th anniversary of his career. To mark the occasion, a 290-page biography entitled On m'apelle Desto plus an audio video box set of 3CDs and a DVD entitled Merci was released in February 2021. Afterwards, the birthday jubilee he gave two festive concerts in Douala and Yaoundé on 19 March and 26 March.

♫ Live: 2021 – Nkotti Francois & Toto Guillaume – Francoise 5:42

Unfortunately, not long after these festive anniversary activities, Nkotti Francois' health unexpectedly and rapidly declined. After a short illness, he breathed his last on 4 August at the Douala General Hospital. After a musical career spanning 50 years, this musical giant has left us. He leaves behind seven children, 10 grandchildren, dozens of singles, LPs, CDs, a talent show that has been successful for decades and a flourishing festival as a reminder of a rich life in the service of Cameroonian music culture.

Discography Nkotti Francois