Maréchal Papillon

Din Din Ferdinand, aka "Maréchal" Papillon, is the promoter of Sakissa, his own form of Makossa, which is characterised by a danceable up-tempo rhythm and Congolese guitar lines. 

In the mid-80s, Papillon took its first steps on the musical path. A few years later he was discovered by Guy Lobe, whose career reached its peak around that time. Lobe arranged Papillon's first LP "Femme sans ambition", which immediately became a hit in Cameroon. 

♫ Video Clip: 1990 - Papillon – Femme sans Ambition 5:36

This success did not go unnoticed in Paris, the epic centre of African music in those years. Papillon attracted the attention of the Paris-based label Air B. Mas Production, which mainly focused on Congolese music, but also recognised the hit potential of the young Papillon.

His next album "L'amour et la misere" was released by Air B. Mas in 1993 with the subtitle Soukous Makossa Love. With this album, Papillon also broke through in Paris and from then on his career took off.

♫ Video Clip: 1993 – l’Amour et la misère 6:07

From then on, Papillon released a constant series of albums - one every eighteen months on average - and scored hits with clock-like regularity. Often these were albums under his own name, but Papillon proved to have an eye for young talent with whom he regularly released albums under the banner of his band "Orchestre Pizza Dance".

In 1996, the USA-based Tinder label released "Femme sans Ambition" as a CD in cooperation with Aladji Toure's TJR label. It was a compilation that also contained 4 tracks from the successful 1990 album "Trouver la Vie" by Petit Pays.

In 2005, his career was at its peak. To celebrate his fifteenth anniversary as an artist, he released a double album "Porc-epic", featuring Jacky Kingue and the Ivorian star Meiway, among others. For his 2009 album "Kamerun", Papillon once again managed to get hold of a big name, no one less than Manu Dibango. 

♫ Video Clip: 2005 – Porc-èpic 8:01 (ft.Jacky Kingue)

♫ Video Clip: 2013 – A Môto 6:48

Unfortunately, Papillon's collaboration with fellow artists also has a dark side. From the start of his career, Papillon has been pursued by accusations of plagiarism, breach of contract and misusing the good names of fellow artists for his own gain.

In the early 1990s, for example, he sold the song "Homme demesure" to the then newly broken Epee & Koum. But before Epee & Koum's album is released in 1993, Papillon releases it himself as 'l'Amour et la misere. In 2006, he got into a conflict with Meiway who accused him of abusing his name. In 2008, Senegalese singer Coumba Gawlo made the same accusation against Papillon. In 2013, the young artist Longue Bille, the little brother of the singer Longue Longue, accused Papillon of stealing the song "A Moto" from him, after letting him know about the song and asking for advice. Finally, Papillon got into conflict with the Dibango heirs last year because he wanted to organise a memorial concert for the late Manu Dibango without the family's consent.

News item: Issue with Epee & Koum

News item: Issue with Meiway

News item: Issue with Coumba Gawlo

News item: Issue with Longue Billè

News item: Issue with family Dibango 

I cannot pass judgment on all these issues, but it is remarkable that Papillon so often gets into such disputes with fellow artists. There is a saying in Dutch: “Where there is smoke, there is fire”. And no matter how you look at it, this kind of publicity does not do his image as an artist any good. And that's a pity, because Papillon, with all his talents, doesn't need this type of publicity.

Unfortunately, I have to end this post with more bad news about Papillon. The singer suffered a stroke early October 2020 from which he is now recovering. Hopefully his recovery will be successful and he will be back on his feet soon!

♫ Video Clip: 2016 – A Môto sur le Cargo 5:53

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