Eko Roosevelt

 Eko Roosevelt is a Cameroonian musician, pianist and singer with a career spanning more than 50 years. He is also the Batanga chief of the village Lobé near the mouth of the Lobé Falls. He is the son of Dr. William Roosevelt, an American-born pastor of the American Presbyterian Church in Kribi, and of a Batanga mother. His parents sent him to the Institut des métis in Ayos, then to De La Salle College in Douala. There he learned the trade of construction worker. He also received a musical education at the School of Arts in Dakar, the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the Conservatoire Musical de Gentilly during the 1970s. 

He went to Dakar, Senegal, where he was introduced to the learned world of conservatories. From one show to another, he made a reputation among his Senegalese friends. In the middle of the sixties, he embarked on a cruise around the Mediterranean, singing Johnny Hallyday and Ray Charles, piano and guitar always at his side. His profile as a gifted musician did the rest. He also accompanied Marcel Zanini, the composer of the hit "Tu veux ou tu veux pas". After Dakar, he flew to Paris where he created the group Dikalo, a broth of Afro-funk. In addition to teaching at the Gentilly conservatory, between 1968 and 1974, he accompanied other artists such as Nino Ferrer, Henri Dikosso and made arrangements and dressings for Marthe Zambo, Joe Mboule, Guy Lobe, Toto Guillaume, far from the computer era.

♫ Audio: 1976 – Dikalo – Fine biscuits 2:50

The Havas agency noticed him and asked him to write a song for the first commercial flight of the Concorde between Dakar, Paris and New York. The result was "Nalandi" in 1975, a song that was an unprecedented success, selling over a million singles and going gold. The same year, he released his first album entitled "Nalandi". 

♫ Audio: 1975 – Eko Roosevelt – Nalandi 8:22

In 1977, he released the album "Kilimanjaro", and other albums followed. He continued his fight for good music, music made from instruments, but also for professionalisation and traditional roots. From 1976 to 1981 he created his own label "Eko Music" and released nine albums. His fame allowed him to create an orchestra at the request of the Ivorian television. Then in 1979, he was entrusted with the direction of the National Orchestra of Cameroon.

♫ Audio: 1976 – Eko Roosevelt – Kilimandjaro my home 7:28

Since 1992, he has been a professor of music at the Faculty of Arts and Letters in Douala. This work he manages to combine with his various performances in different places, especially at the Meridien Hotel where he plays the piano in the evenings. He is also the father of three children, grandfather of five grandchildren and is married to Nicole Nevez. He performs with cabaret and variety musicians throughout Cameroon and France. In 1992, he was promoted to the rank of Knight and Officer of the Order of Valour, then Officer of the Order of Valour in July 2002 and finally Commander of the same Order in May 2012.

With the growing interest in the music of African artists who have been inspired by funk and disco, Eko Roosevelt's music has also been 'rediscovered' by a new generation of music lovers. This has led, among other things, to the re-release of some of his greatest hits as 12" vinyl singles. Also in 2017, the compilation album "Eko Roosevelt 1975-1982" was released on the Nubiphone Label. And in 2020, British DJ and producer duo Disclosure, consisting of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, released a "new" version of Eko Roosevelt's song "Tondo". 

♫ Video Clip: 2020 – Eko Roosevelt & Disclosure– Tondo 5:30

DISCOGRAPHY

Maurice Njoume

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. 

♫ Video Clip: 1989 – Maurice Njoume – Maimouna 5:34

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).

♫ Audio: 1991 – Maurice Njoume – Son te 5:45

♫ Audio: 1999 – Maurice Njoume – Awa 7:06

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. 

♫ Video Clip: 2021 – Maurice Njoume – Lovie lovie 4.26

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.  

DISCOGRAPHY

Barry Sikisa

 

Barry Sikissa released two albums in the early 1990s. In 1992, he released 'Vie sans garage', which was followed three years later by the album 'Bayam selam'. The latter album was released on Aladji Toure's record label. After that, it was quiet around Barry Sikissa for a long time. 

♫ Audio: 1995 – Barry Sikissa – Bayam selam 5:53

Until last year, when he came out with a new album 'Ndjembele ndjambala', which also features Longe Longue.

♫ Audio: 2021 – Barry Sikissa (ft. Longue Longe) – Ndjembele ndjambala 5:44

DISCOGRAPHY

Eriko (Njombos)

In 2006, Aladji Toure organised his "Master Class" for upcoming musical talent for the first time. One of the winners of the first edition was a promising young singer called Eriko. When Toure was asked in an interview what qualities caught his eye when he heard this new talent, he replied, " Eriko is someone who sings really well, who has something about the colour of his voice. It is the voice of the future. He's got it all and he's good physically. He's a complete artist and he's a good musician too, (besides being a good singer, Eriko is also a creditable guitarist and pianist DM) which means that regardless of how well he sings he has a really good ear approach and it plays a lot."

The following year, Eriko recorded his first album titled 'Yondo' under the direction of Aladji Toure. The album became an instant success in all bars, cabarets and nightclubs in 2008. Eriko is the new makoss star appearing in the firmament and is in demand everywhere.

♫ Video Clip: 2007 - Eriko – Yondo 6:09

But then disaster struck on Friday, August 1. Just when his popularity had peaked, Eric Josué Kouoh was the victim of a terrible road accident as he was coming from Douala just about to drive into Yaoundé. His artistic manager Benoit Eso. h Sonne did not survive the accident and Eriko was also soon rumoured to have died. As it turned out later, this was not the case but he appeared to have been transported to hospital in a comatose condition. 

Some time later, he was transferred to Europe, where he recovered somewhat after months of treatment. Almost everyone around him was convinced at the time that Eriko would never be able to sing and play music again. But miracles are not yet out of the world. 

It is Toto Guillaume who manages to bring Eriko back to life musically. In 2011, the renowned composer, arranger and guitarist set to work with Eriko, who had not sung for three years. The result was a breathtaking five-song mini-album titled 'Baby palaba.' After the album was released, Eriko performed two major shows in Douala and Yaoundé in which he was welcomed by his fans as a returned prodigal son. Unfortunately, it ended with this one-off return.

♫ Video Clip: 2011 - Aïcha 5:33

♫ Video Clip: 2011 – Inondé (Ndolo) 6:15

In the long, rich history of makossa, there have been several occasions when the careers of promising musicians have been cut short prematurely due to unexpected misfortune. I'm thinking of legends like Bebey Black and Kotto Bass who lost us far too early. Fortunately, Eriko is still among us, but even in his case, we can only guess what successes this versatile musician and fantastic singer could have achieved had he not been the victim of this tragic accident on 1 August 2008. Although his final output was limited to just two albums, many people agree that Eriko was one of the best singers, if not the best makossa singer the current millennium has brought us so far.

DISCOGRAPHY

Diboué Black

Diboué Black is a singer, composer and music producer from Cameroon. He also writes his own lyrics which he sings in French and his mother tongue Douala. His repertoire consists mainly of Makossa and Zouk.  

Ebenezer Diboué Mpondo Black was born on 16 July 1967 in Douala - Akwa. In the years 1980 - 1982, he started performing in various amateur bands. In 1983, he wrote his first own song, titled Mbodji (a flower in the Douala language). 

In 1984, he left Cameroon and travelled to France to continue his studies and work on his musical career. After four years, he released his first album in 1988, entitled C'est pas sérieux, followed in 1989 by a second album, Les roses de la vie. Although Makossa was extremely popular in the Parisian discos of the African diaspora in those years, even rivalling Zouk and Soukous, the albums  did not yet bring Diboue Black the hoped-for commercial success. The fact that both albums were released on vinyl only and contained only five songs each might have played a role in that. In those years, African artists were also releasing more and more CD albums that contained many more songs. People were therefore less willing to spend money on a five-song LP when comparable music was available on CDs that often contained twice as many songs.  

♫ Audio: 1989 – Diboue Black – Ina Bonga: 05:54

♫ Audio: 1994 – Diboue Black – Maloko Ambiace: 06:17

In 1994, he contributed with the song 'Maloko Ambiance' - alongside Aurlus Mabele, Deesse and Guy Lobe, among others - to a production by Eitel Meva'a under the name 'Afric Panach'.

 After a long hiatus of more than five years, Diboué Black returned in 1996 with a solo album, the CD  Wake-up Africa released on the Socadis label. It was a varied album with songs in different styles ranging from Makossa, Salsa and Zouk. In 2000, he released the album Africa Fiesta with the song Jump Africa Jump. With this song, he scored a modest hit in Africa and the Antilles and in the years that followed, Jump Africa Jump was included on a number of compilation albums. Africa Fiesta was followed by Conscience positive (2003) and Etat d'esprit (2011).  In 2015, he released another single, Jusqu'à tant pis. As far as I know, Diboué Black has not released any new music since then.

♫ Video Clip: 2000 – Diboue Black – Mbembe: 04:04

♫ Audio: 2015 – Diboue Black – Jusqu’a Tant Pis: 03:05

DISCOGRAPHY

Jacky Kingue

Jacky Kingue, whose real name is Georges Jacky Eyadi Kingue, was born on 27 September 1987 in Yaoundé. He is the son of the late Robert Kingue and Mouto Ntonè Jacqueline Cécile, and grew up in Douala, within his maternal family. After a somewhat chaotic schooling, due to a lack of financial means, he stopped his studies in the fifth grade, when he was fourteen years old. From this difficult period, he kept the emotional memory of his late paternal uncle, Ngando Nicolas, thanks to whom he and his older sister were able to attend school until they obtained their primary school certificate. When he stopped studying, Georges Jacky Eyadi Kingue took on a series of odd jobs, while his mother struggled to support the family. A teenager's life made up of deprivation and resourcefulness. During these years, Jacky forged a warrior's soul, with his passion for music as his only weapon. And to do as the grown-ups do, despite his family's reticence, he tinkers with his own instruments, which he learns to play on his own. Like his friend, Francis Ngombe Matanda, he was passionate about drums and made his own with old milk cans and rubber from used inner tubes. Both dreamed of becoming professional drummers. 

Finally, in 1999, Jacky gave up the drums to devote himself to singing. He then took his first steps as a singer in one of the cabarets in his neighbourhood in Douala. Despite the lack of a fee, he played there every night after his day's work, under the protection of one of the group's managers, the artist Dany Mouandjo. Only tips served as a salary. But his real apprenticeship came a few months later, during a tour of the band in the south-west of the country. He learned to use his voice as an instrument.

Back in Douala after twelve weeks of touring, Jacky decided to leave the group to become a travelling singer. In 2001, at the request of singer Kaïssa Pakito, he joined the cabaret La Belle époque. He stayed there for a few months, before joining the Brasseries du Cameroun Orchestra. But in parallel to his musical activities, he decided to open a hairdressing salon in order to ensure a fixed income. He had learnt this trade a few years earlier from a friend.

♫ Video Clip: 2001 – Jacky Kingue – Mudengue 6:58

Jacky Kingue & Prince Eyango

One evening in 2001, his singing talents were noticed by Prince Ndédi Eyango, one of the stars of Cameroonian music. The latter decided to produce his first solo album entitled Patou. The album was a success and Jacky Kingue became known to the general public. He received many awards, including the male revelation of the year 2002. Buoyed by this success, he left Cameroon that year to settle in France.In 2004, he released his second album Un pas de plus / One more step and parted company with his producer by mutual agreement. At the time, he wanted to broaden his horizons and fly on his own. But above all, he wanted to go back to school. He learnt about computers, in order to be able to make computer-assisted music. Anxious to improve his musical knowledge, he also attended the conservatory. Through hard work, he became not only a songwriter, but also an arranger.

♫ Video Clip: 2004 – Jacky Kingue – Maléa Ma Nyagwam (Les conseils) 6:14

♫ Video Clip: 2018 – Jacky Kingue – Ndjika Ndolo Ni 3:42

Over the years, he created a small production label (Kiharold Production), wrote songs and produced albums for other artists. In 2010, he released a maxi-single entitled En charge, which unfortunately did not meet with the expected success. Six years later, another maxi-single Open became a great success. In 2020, he scored withe a revived Chérie Coco, a song written a few years earlier. As soon as the single was released in March 2020, it was a huge success. After the aforementioned (maxi) singles, Jacky Kingue presented his new (third) album containing fourteen completely new songs on 14 November 2021 from Hotel St. Christopher's in Paris. 

♫ Video Clip: 2021 – Jacky Kingue – Jenny 4:23

DISCOGRAPHY

Papy Ndoumbe

 
In the second half of the 1980s, Papy Ndoumbe's musical career got off to a flying start with two successful albums, Lézard trompeur in 1987 and A saute mouton in 1989.  After that, it became quiet around this promising singer/guitarist. I read somewhere that he was disabled as a result of a serious accident. That may explain the shortness of his musical career. In 1997, another CD of his is released with the title Cathy remix, on which a number of songs from his two previous albums can be heard in a new remix. However, this album does not contain any new songs. It seems that Papy Ndoumbe now lives in Germany.

♫ Audio: 1987 – Papy Ndoumbe – Lézard trompeur 5:10

♫ Audio: 1989 – Papy Ndoumbe – Mbemba muto 4:42

DISCOGRAPHY