Maurice Njoume was born in Mbanga-Kumba. He comes into contact with music through his mother who sings enthusiastically in a choir. As a teenager, he and his older brother Njoumé Eitel start making music themselves. He makes his first guitar himself from wood and iron wire.
After secondary school, he lived for three years in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he studied private law. During his studies, he worked as a cook in a hotel.
After returning to Cameroon in the late 1970s, Lapiro took him under his wing and encouraged Maurice Njoume to continue in music and become a professional artist. Some years later, it was Nkotti Francois who brought him to Douala and introduced him as an artist in various cabarets and bars.
In 1988, he left for France to record his first album Maimouna. The album was produced and arranged by Toto Guillaume, who also played the guitar parts. The title song was a big hit in 1989, not only because of its catchy melody, but also because of the lyrics that touched many people's hearts. Indeed, in this song, Maurice Njoume tells how, as a youngster, he lost his first great love as a result of a road accident.
The album Maimouna and its eponymous title brought Maurice Njoume to the attention of the general public in 1988. Maimouna is a very sad song. It is a life story. This song tells of a violent shock that scarred Maurice Njoume. Maimouna was his very first girlfriend and he was madly in love with her. She had accepted him despite his conditions as a musician. One day she came to visit him; when she was about to return, she was killed in a violent road accident. Amid his pain and grief, Maurice Njoume composed this song as a tribute to his first love. In it, he said the following: "Of all the women I have met on this earth, I have loved only Maimouna, but the evil angels have taken her away from me. I will mourn you "Maimouna" till the end of my days".
Besides his solo career, he also accompanied several major African artists including Boncana Maïga, Aïcha Kone and Abeti Masikini in the years that followed as guitarist. He also released several more successful albums in the 1990s including Maurice Njoume (1991), Aminata (1996) and Sunshine (1999).
After ending his active musical career, he worked as artistic director for the national music competition of the Brasseries du Cameroun. Twenty years ago, he settled in Mbanga, his mother's birthplace, to devote himself to managing his plantations.
Hoewel hij al enkele jaren in slechte gezondheid verkeerde, besloot hij in 2020 zijn muzikale carrière weer op te pakken en een nieuw album uit te brengen. Dit album geproduceerd door Alpha Tyiam is getiteld Unite. De titelsong van het album verwijst naar de huidige crisis in de relatie tussen Anglofoon en Francofoon Kameroen en roept hij op tot eenheid tussen de verschillende bevolkingsgroepen.
Helaas bleef zijn gezondheid achteruit gaan en op 18 juni 2022 overleed Maurice Njoume in Nkongsamba, terwijl hij in een ambulance vervoerd werd naar het regionale ziekenhuis van die stad.
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