Kareyce Fotso is a Cameroonian singer who performs around the world and in various styles, including Afro pop, blues and mangambeu.
Fotso was born in Bandjoun and grew up in Yaoundé. [1] In Yaoundé she learned to speak Ewondo and today often performs in that language. [1] Fotso studied biochemistry and film at school, but eventually went on to become a singer. [2]
Fotso sang for the band, Korongo Jam, starting in 2001, until the band split up in 2006. [1] Fotso went back to Cameroon after the split where she began to perform in cabarets in Yaoundé. [1] [3] Her first album, Mulato was released locally in 2009. [1] At the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie , she won the silver medal at the song contest. [4] In 2010, she released the album, Kwegne. [3] Her next album, Mokte, was released in 2014. [5]
Fotso sings in various styles, including mangambeu, Afro pop, world music, soul music and Ethnic blues. [5] When she sings, she often accompanies herself with guitar, wooden drums or bells. [2] Fotso performs around the world. [5] [6]
Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father was a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, while his mother was a Duala. He was best known for his 1972 single "Soul Makossa". The song has been referred to as the most sampled African song in addition Dibango, himself, as the most sampled African musician in history. He died from COVID-19 on 24 March 2020.
Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band established in 1970 as the house band of the Baobab Club in Dakar. Many of the band's original members had previously played with Star Band de Dakar in the 1960s. Directed by timbalero and vocalist Balla Sidibé, the group featured saxophonists Issa Cissoko and Thierno Koité, two singers, two guitarists and a rhythm section with drums, congas and bass guitar. Since their formation, the band has predominantly played a mix of son cubano, Wolof music, and to a lesser extent Mande musical traditions. Following the deaths of Cissoko in 2019 and Sidibé in 2020, Thierno Koité has become the leader of the band.
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Mangambeu is a popular musical style of the Bangangte people of Cameroon. It was popularised by Pierre Diddy Tchakounte. Today, other singers, such as Kareyce Fotso, continue to sing in this style.
Bassekou Kouyate is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba.
Elizabeth Bessem Ayamo Manga, also known as Bébé Manga, was a Cameroonian makossa singer whose best-known song is "Ami O". She is considered one of the most popular makossa singers of the 1980s.
Golden Sounds, later known as Zangaléwa, was a makossa group from Cameroon, formed in 1984 by active members of Cameroon's presidential guard: Jean Paul Zé Bella, Dooh Belley, Luc Eyebe and Emile Kojidie. The group is most famous for its song, "Zangaléwa", which was a huge hit in Africa after its release in 1986, and was revived in 2010 when Shakira sampled it for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Waka Waka.
Mani Martin is a Rwandan singer, songwriter, actor and performing artist. He has won numerous awards. His unique musical sound that reflects the Afro-fusion, urban and traditional sounds has received National & international attention hence being described by "Rwanda Spectrum Magazine" as one of the best live music performing artists of the Rwandan music scene. Mani sings in Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, English and French.
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Lynda Raymonde, was born on May 10, 1981, in Yaoundé, and is a Cameroonian Bikutsi singer from Lekié in the Centre region of Cameroon. She began her professional career in 2003, but became known on the national and international music scene in 2011 with her debut album Symbiose.
Grace Decca is a Cameroonian singer and producer from Douala, the country's economic capital. She is the younger sister of Ben Decca, a well-known Makossa singer, and she worked alongside him and other musicians like Jean Jacques Goldman before establishing her own career in 1989 with the album Besoin d'amour.. Her five other Makossa albums are Le Duo D.K (1992), Doï La Mulema (1993), Appelle-moi Princesse (1998), and Donne-moi un peu d'amour (2001). She returned to the Cameroonian music scene in 2014 with a gospel album, Mouna. She has also started her own label, GNS Productions.
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