Born in Douala, Ruth Kotto was trained as a stylist-modelist. She hails from a family of musicians, was attracted by dance from an early age and started her first dance group at Cetif College in Akwa Douala. her desire to make music herself grows when she sees the success of her elder brother Kotto Bass as singer and musician.
Without following the usual path through school concerts, choirs or cabarets as is often the case, the young Ruth makes her debut in the recording studios of Douala ans lends her voice as background singer to many cameroonian artists such as Ekambi Brillant, Bebe Manga, Kotto Bass, Sam Fan Thomas, as well as to African artists such as Monique Seka, Tshala Muana to name but a few.
from 1994 to 1996 she was part of 'The MBC' - The Makassi Band Corporation - the band of Sam Fan Thomas, led by her brother Kotto Bass. This cooperation came to an end when her beloved older brother died unexpectedly.
1996 was also the year in which Ruth Kotto made her debut as soloist in a duet with singer Joly Priso. This duet, a rendition of J.R. Nelson's song
L'in attentendu ratatouille was the opening song of the CD
Cameroon Stars 2000 a production by Aladji Toure in which a number of young, promising singers such as Joly Priso, Njohreur, Franck Chaleur and... Ruth, performed songs by - among others - J.R. Nelson, Pierre de Moussy and Moni Bile.
L’inattendu ratatouille
Ruth's warm and sweet voice seduced the music lovers in Cameroon and in 1997 the promising singer was chosen as the best female backing vocalist by the CRTC (Cameroon Radio & Television).
In 1998 she settled in France where her career soon took off. She worked with several artists from Cameroon and beyond as background vocalist, but made her fame with her contributions to the various
Le Testament du Makossa volumes, revisiting the 'Golden Age' of makossa.
Once in Paris, she is soon invited by Manu Dibango to record a duet for his 2001 album
Kamer Feeling (track 1
Bolingo City).
In 2003 it's finally time for Ruth Kotto to release her first solo album entitled
'Dame de Coeur'.
She says the following about the choice for this title in an interview with Cameroon-Info.net:
(...) I decided to give the title 'Dame de Coeur' to this album to express all the feelings that animated me at some point or other of its realization. The album as a whole is only a sum of messages, joys, fears and apprehensions that I wanted to share with music lovers. So I realized that I had a lot to give, a lot of massages to share that we had to find a title that could be a sort of summary of all the feelings that I feel through the twelve titles that make up the album. Moreover, as a woman, I could not remain long insensitive to the problems that women encounter in their daily lives. So I seized the opportunity here to express my solidarity to all these battered women in their homes, to all those single women to suffer the wordt attrocities. I offer them my heart. That's the only thing I could do for the moment (...).
In addition, the title Dame de Coeur also refers to a kind of rose that bears this name. The album was quite successful, and she has a few hits, notably
Ton Pied Mon Pied.
The years after that, it becomes quiet around Ruth, family life must have kept her busy, she gave birth to two children. But in 2009 she is back with the single
Nyambé in which she tells a beautiful story about the lonelyness that can prevail in some people in difficult moments of life.
That same year there is also a successful tour to China on the side of colleague singer Prince Ndedi Eyango.
Once back in Paris she starts to work on songs for a new album. entitled
Bonam which she finally released herself in 2013. Bonam, which is produced by Toto Guillaume contains eight songs in various styles from jazz and bossa to rumba and pure makossa. One of the songs
Folo-Folo is a reprise of one of her brother Kotto Bass his big successes. With this album, Ruth Kotto remains true to the high quality of her debut album and proves that she is among the top of Cameroon female vocalists. After the album Bonam she released several singles with which she scored hits such who became hits, such as in 2016 with
Nyong'a Muto and recently with
O Makossa.
DISCOGRAPHY
