Kaoma was a pop group made up in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 of former members of the band Touré Kunda

Touré Kunda

Touré Kunda is a Senegalese musical group whose 20-year career encompasses recordings in six languages and collaborations with well-known musicians such as Carlos Santana...

: Chyco Dru (bassist), Jacky Arconte (guitarist), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (producer and keyboardist), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion), Fania (vocals), and Loalwa Braz

Loalwa Braz

Loalwa Braz is a Brazilian singer and songwriter. She is better known as providing the lead vocals for the French pop group Kaoma in their worldwide hit "Lambada"...

 (lead singer), Chico and Roberta

Chico and Roberta

Chico and Roberta was a Brazilian song and dance duo founded in 1989.-Biography:The duo consisted of two Brazilian children: Washington "Chico" Oliveira, also known by the names Uoston, Voston, and Chico , and Roberta de Brito...

 (dancers). Chyco Dru is from Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, Jacky Arconte from Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

, and Loalwa Braz from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

In 1989, they had a major chart-topping hit with their dance music single "Lambada," a direct cover of Brazilian singer-songwriter Márcia Ferreira's 1986 dance hit "Chorando se foi," which itself was a legally authorized Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

-translated rendition of the original 1981 slow ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

, "Llorando se fue

Llorando se fue

"Llorando se fue" is a Bolivian folk song recorded by Los Kjarkas in 1981 on the album Canto a la mujer de mi pueblo and released as a B-side of the "Wa ya yay" single in 1982. The song is very popular in Latin America since the 1980's and has been covered several times...

" by the Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

n group Los Kjarkas

Los Kjarkas

Los Kjarkas is a Bolivian band from the Capinota Province in the department of Cochabamba, one of the most popular Andean pop bands in the country's history...

. Given Kaoma's clear act of plagiarism and release of their single without Los Kjarkas' permission, Los Kjarkas successfully sued. "Dançando Lambada

Dançando Lambada

"Dançando Lambada" is a 1989 song recorded by Franco-Brazilian pop group Kaoma with the Brazilian vocalist Loalwa Braz. It was the second single from Kaoma's debut album Worldbeat and followed the smash worldwide hit "Lambada"...

" and "Mélodie d'amour" were the next two singles and were also hit singles, although they failed to earn the same success as "Lambada". "Lambada" peaked at #46 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. It reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

The same year, the band released its first album Worldbeat

Worldbeat (album)

Worldbeat is a 1989 album recorded by Kaoma. It was the band's debut album and provided three hit singles, two of them achieving success worldwide: "Lambada", "Dançando Lambada" and "Mélodie d'amour". The album is composed of songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English. It was ranked in the top 25 in...

which achieved worldwide success.

In 1991, Kaoma released the album Tribal-pursuit which provided the singles "Danca Tago-Mago" and "Moço do dende".

Discography

• Worldbeat
  Worldbeat (album)
  Worldbeat is a 1989 album recorded by Kaoma. It was the band's debut album and provided three hit singles, two of them achieving success worldwide: "Lambada", "Dançando Lambada" and "Mélodie d'amour". The album is composed of songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English. It was ranked in the top 25 in...
  
  (1989)
• Tribal-pursuit (1991)
• A La Media Noche (1998)