Kaoma

For the African town, see Kaoma, Zambia.

Kaoma
Kaoma in 1998
Background information
Origin	Paris, France [1]
Genres	Lambada, worldbeat
Years active	1989–1999 2006–2009
Labels	Epic, Atoll
Past members	Loalwa Braz Chyco Dru Jacky Arconte Jean-Claude Bonaventure Michel Abihssira Fania Etna Brasyl Dyami Alan Hoy
Website	Kaoma Website

Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band. It was created in 1989 and responsible for successfully launching the lambada musical style in Europe. ^[2] In a 10-year period from 1989 until the band's disbandment in 1999, Kaoma released three albums, and the band's biggest success was the 1989 song "Lambada", which topped the charts in many countries.

Background

In 1988, two French producers called Jean Georgakarakos, known as Jean Karakos, and Olivier Lamotte D'Incamps, known as Olivier Lorsac, visited Brazil, and while they were on vacation in the northeastern city of Porto Seguro, they discovered the Lambada genre and Márcia Ferreira's song "Chorando Se Foi" playing on a local radio station.

The French duo then got the idea of forming a lambada group to introduce the genre to Europe, and after returning to France, they registered the song at SACEM under the name Chico de Oliveira and renamed the song to Lambada.

The two French producers were originally looking for a singer between 19 and 25 years old for a lambada group. Despite already being in her 30s, Loalwa Braz, who had been living in France since 1985, decided to enter the contest. Not only was Braz selected among more than 20 candidates, but also gave the idea of naming the band Kaoma. The other musicians hired for the project were Chyco Dru from Martinique for the bass, Jacky Arconte from Guadeloupe for the guitar, Jean-Claude Bonaventure on the keyboard, Michel Abihssira for the drums and percussion, and Fania Niang for backing vocals. ^[3]

Career

In the summer of 1989, the band Kaoma released the single "Lambada", which became a major chart-topping international hit. The songwriting credits were given to Chico de Oliveira. However, it was discovered on 30 August 1989 that Chico de Oliveira was a pseudonym for Olivier Lamotte D'Incamps, better known as Olivier Lorsac. ^[4]

Instead, it was a direct cover of the 1986 song "Chorando Se Foi" by Brazilian singer-songwriter Márcia Ferreira, which itself was a Portuguese adaptation of Cuarteto Continental's 1984 version of "Llorando se fue", whose original version was released in 1981 by Bolivian group Los Kjarkas. ^{[5] [6]} To add more to the story, Kaoma also significantly altered Márcia Ferreira's lyrics. This led to both Los Kjarkas and Márcia Ferreira successfully suing Kaoma. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

"Dançando Lambada" and "Mélodie d'amour" were the next two singles and were also hits, although they failed to earn the same success as "Lambada", which itself peaked at number 46 in the US Billboard Hot 100. ^[10] "Lambada" fared better in Europe, reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. ^[11] Also in 1989, Kaoma released their first album Worldbeat which achieved worldwide success, becoming - along with Beto Barbosa - one of the legends of Brazilian lambada. At the 1990 Lo Nuestro Awards, Kaoma won two awards for Pop Group of the Year and New Pop Artist of the Year. ^[12]

In 1991, Kaoma released the album Tribal Pursuit which provided the singles "Danca Tago Mago" and "Moço do Dendê". Kaoma would also release the album A la media noche in 1998, prior to disbanding, and Braz would continue on a solo career.

After the band disbanded

On 19 January 2017, Braz was murdered in Saquarema, and her body was found in her car in a carbonized state. ^{[13] [14]} Police arrested three suspects for the murder; several motives were suspected, such as a botched robbery or a revenge killing. All three were sentenced to prison. ^[15]

Personnel

Principal members

• Loalwa Braz – lead vocals (1989–1999; died 2017)
• Chyco Dru – bass guitar (1989–1999; 2006–2009)
• Jacky Arconte – guitars (1989–1999; 2006–2009)
• Jean-Claude Bonaventure – keyboards, production (1989–1993)
• Michel Abihssira – drums, percussion (1989–1998)
• Fania – backing vocals, flute (1989–1993)

Other members

• Etna Brasyl – lead vocals (2006–2009)
• Dyami – unknown
• Alan Hoy – backing vocals, dancer (2006–2009)

Discography

Albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions										Certifications
		BRA	AUS [16]	AUT [17]	GER [18]	NLD [19]	NOR [16]	SWE [16]	SWI [16]	US	US Latin
Worldbeat	Released: 16 December 1989 Label: Columbia Formats: CD	1	17	16	21	12	11	41	6	40	1	ABPD: Platinum [20] MC: Gold [21]
Tribal-Pursuit	Released: 1991 Label: Sony Music Formats: CD	—	—	—	—	51	—	—	—	—	—
A La Media Noche	Released: 10 November 1998 Label: Atoll Music Formats: CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Year	Peak chart positions										Certifications	Album
		AUS [22]	AUT [17]	CAN [23]	GER [18]	IRL [24]	NLD [19]	NZ [25]	SWI [26]	UK [27]	US
"Lambada"	1989	5	1	78	1	4	1	10	1	4	46	ARIA: Gold [22] BPI: Gold [28] BVMI: 2× Platinum [29] IFPI SWE: Platinum [30] IFPI SWI: Gold [31] MC: Gold [32] NVPI: Platinum [33] RIAJ: Platinum [34]	Worldbeat
"Dançando Lambada"		—	17	—	18	11	5	—	6	62	—
"Lambamor"	1990	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Mélodie d'amour"		—	—	—	—	—	15	—	—	—	—
"Jambé Finète (Grillé)" (Remix)		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Dança Tago-Mago"	1991	—	—	—	—	—	8	—	—	—	—		Tribal Pursuit
"Mamãe Afrika"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Moço do Dende"	1992	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"A la Media Noche" (Remix)	1998	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		A La Media Noche
"Banto"	1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Lambada 3000"	2009	—	—	—	—	—	18	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"Danca Tago Mago (Robert Abigail Remix) feat. Fab Faya"	2014	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single

References

1. Pareles, Jon (1990-01-15). "Review/Pop; Lambada, Would-Be Craze by Way of Paris". The New York Times.
2. "Review/Pop; Lambada, Would-Be Craze by Way of Paris (Published 1990)". 1990-01-15. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
3. "'Chorando se Foi': Loalwa Braz e Kaoma conquistaram o mundo com versão de canção boliviana". BBC News Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-08-20.
4. "La lambada, tube de l'été Les ressorts d'une bonne affaire" (in French). 1989-08-30. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
5. Márcia Ferreira's Official Site Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine . Biography. marciaferreira.com.br
6. Céspedes, Gilka Wara (1993). ""Huayño," "Saya," and "Chuntunqui": Bolivian Identity in the Music of "Los Kjarkas"". Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana. 14 (1): 52–101. doi:10.2307/780009. JSTOR   780009.
7. "Brazilian Wonder Turns Out Bolivian (Published 1990)". 1990-07-04. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
8. Tejada, Ignacio Saenz de; Galilea, Carlos (1989-10-03). "El plagio de la lambada". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 2025-08-20.
9. Saenz de Tejada, Nacho (1990-05-29). "Kjarkas: "La lambada es un dolor"". El País.
10. Kaoma: Billboard singles AllMusic.
11. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 296. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
12. "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
13. "Loalwa Braz, do Kaoma, é achada morta em carro incendiado, diz polícia". Gl.globo.com. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
14. "Lambada singer Loalwa Braz found dead in Brazil". BBC. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
15. "Três homens são condenados pela morte da cantora Loalwa Braz, do grupo Kaoma". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
16. "Kaoma – Worldbeat". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
17. "Discographie Kaoma". austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
18. "Discographie von Kaoma". offiziellecharts.de (in German). Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
19. "Discografie Kaoma". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
20. "Associação Brasileira de Produtores de Disco". ABPD. Archived from the original on 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
21. "Canadian certifications". Cria. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
22. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 150.
23. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9018". RPM . Retrieved 22 June 2023– via Library and Archives Canada.
24. "The Irish Charts – Search by Artist for Kaoma". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
25. "Discography Kaoma". charts.nz. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
26. "Kaoma – Lambada". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
27. "Kaoma | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 22 June 2023.
28. "www.bpi.co.uk/". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
29. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Lambada')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved August 1, 2008.
30. "Guld and platina 1987–1998" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
31. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
32. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Certification Results". Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
33. "Goud / Platina | NVPI". nvpi.nl. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
34. "List of best-selling international singles in Japan". JP&KIYO. 2002. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-01-27.

External links

• Kaoma Lambada webpage