Arts + Culture
The Bamileke elephant mask: beaded power from the Cameroon Grassfields
In the Grassfields of western Cameroon, Bamileke masquerades feature striking beaded cloth masks with long panels and round…
Cameroon
Arts + Culture
Francis Bebey: the Cameroonian musician, writer and thinker who played the world’s instruments
Francis Bebey was a Cameroonian guitarist, composer, novelist and musicologist. He wrote the prize-winning novel Agatha Moudio's Son,…
Music
Sam Fan Thomas and “African Typic Collection”: the makossa hit that crossed Africa
Cameroonian guitarist and singer Sam Fan Thomas released "African Typic Collection" in 1984. Its blend of makossa and…
Music
Les Têtes Brûlées: the painted Yaoundé band that took bikutsi to the world
Les Têtes Brûlées, founded in Yaoundé by Jean-Marie Ahanda, popularised a pop version of bikutsi in the 1980s.…
Music
From a Cameroonian village to New York’s jazz stages: Richard Bona and the bass
Richard Bona, born in Minta, Cameroon, in 1967, grew up in a family of musicians and switched to…
Arts + Culture
“Sweet Mother” came out in 1976 and never left. Prince Nico Mbarga’s song for every African mother
Prince Nico Mbarga and Rocafil Jazz released "Sweet Mother" in 1976. Sung in Pidgin English over a highlife…
Arts + Culture
“Mama-say mama-sa mama-ko-ssa”: the Cameroonian B-side Michael Jackson borrowed for Thriller
Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" was released in 1972 as the B-side of a song for the African Cup…