"
Soul Makossa" is a
1972-Events:*January 17 - Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Blvd"*January 20 - Pink Floyd debuts Dark Side of the Moon during a performance at The Dome, in Brighton, but due to technical difficulties, is halted during the song 'Money'. Dark Side of the Moon would be...
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
ian
makossaMakossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences from jazz, ambasse bey, Latin...
saxophonist
Manu DibangoManu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala...
. It is often cited as one of the first
discoDisco is a genre of dance music that that had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, psychedelic and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
records. In 1972
David MancusoDavid Mancuso is the creator of the famous "by invitation only" parties in New York City which have come to be known as "The Loft". The first such party was held in 1970 and was called "Love Saves The Day"...
found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his
LoftThe Loft is the location for the first underground dance party that was created by David Mancuso on February 14 1970 in New York. Since then, the term The Loft has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, or beverages are sold...
parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by
Frankie CrockerFrankie "Hollywood" Crocker was a famous New York radio DJ. According to popeducation.org, Frankie began his career in Buffalo, then moved to Soul station WWRL New York before being hired by top-40 WMCA in 1969...
, who DJed at
WBLSWBLS is an Urban Adult Contemporary FM radio station that is licensed to New York City, operating on 107.5 MHz.WBLS first broadcast in the summer of 1972, with Frankie Crocker as the Program Director. Crocker redefined R&B radio with the term "Urban Contemporary," targeting listeners 18-34 years of...
, then New York's most popular black radio station.
"
Soul Makossa" is a
1972-Events:*January 17 - Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Blvd"*January 20 - Pink Floyd debuts Dark Side of the Moon during a performance at The Dome, in Brighton, but due to technical difficulties, is halted during the song 'Money'. Dark Side of the Moon would be...
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
ian
makossaMakossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences from jazz, ambasse bey, Latin...
saxophonist
Manu DibangoManu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala...
. It is often cited as one of the first
discoDisco is a genre of dance music that that had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, psychedelic and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
records. In 1972
David MancusoDavid Mancuso is the creator of the famous "by invitation only" parties in New York City which have come to be known as "The Loft". The first such party was held in 1970 and was called "Love Saves The Day"...
found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his
LoftThe Loft is the location for the first underground dance party that was created by David Mancuso on February 14 1970 in New York. Since then, the term The Loft has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, or beverages are sold...
parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by
Frankie CrockerFrankie "Hollywood" Crocker was a famous New York radio DJ. According to popeducation.org, Frankie began his career in Buffalo, then moved to Soul station WWRL New York before being hired by top-40 WMCA in 1969...
, who DJed at
WBLSWBLS is an Urban Adult Contemporary FM radio station that is licensed to New York City, operating on 107.5 MHz.WBLS first broadcast in the summer of 1972, with Frankie Crocker as the Program Director. Crocker redefined R&B radio with the term "Urban Contemporary," targeting listeners 18-34 years of...
, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record. Atlantic eventually licensed the song from the French record label Fiesta. Their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973; in 1999
Dave MarshDave Marsh is an American music critic who briefly attended Wayne State University, became a formative editor of Creem magazine, wrote for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and also edited Rock and Roll Confidential, a newsletter about rock music and...
wrote that it was "the only African record by an African" to crack the top 40. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart. It became "a massive hit" internationally as well.
"Soul Makossa" was originally recorded as a B-side for "Mouvement Ewondo," a song about Cameroon's association football team.
It is probably best remembered for the chanted vocal
refrainA refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
"Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa", which was also used in
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
's 1982 "
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" is a song by American pop musician Michael Jackson, featured on his 1982 sixth studio album Thriller. Released as the fourth single from the album on May 8, 1983, the song peaked at number five on the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, topped the American Hot...
" (albeit in a different key with a not-so-monophonic melody) during the song's final
bridgeIn music, especially occidental popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section. The bridge may be the third eight-bar phrase in a thirty-two-bar form , or it may be used more loosely in verse-chorus form, or, in a compound AABA...
. It is also sampled in the hip hop song "Face Off" by artist
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name, Jay-Z is an American hip hop artist and businessman. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $150 million, shipping over 30 million copies of his albums in the United...
on his album
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 is the second studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on November 4, 1997. The album received positive reviews from critics but fans were not embracing Jay-Z's commercialized new image...
as well as the single "
Don't Stop the Music"Don't Stop the Music" is a dance song performed by Barbadian pop singer Rihanna from her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad. It was the third single from the album in most of Europe, the second single in Germany and Spain and the fourth single in the rest of the world...
" by
RihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , known as Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer and model. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
. The song is also sampled on the intro to
The CarnivalWyclef Jean Presents The Carnival Featuring Refugee All Stars, or more simply The Carnival, is a 1997 hip hop album by Wyclef Jean...
,
Wyclef JeanWyclef Neluset Jean is a multiplatinum Haitian-American musician, actor, producer and former-member of the hip hop trio The Fugees...
's first solo album. The phrase "ma ma say ah, ma ma coo sah" also appears in the fourth verse of the song "Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts)" by
A Tribe Called QuestA Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985. The group is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but appears to have rejoined the group since 2006...
, and in "Mama Say," the debut single by the
Bloodhound GangThe Bloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American alternative/punk rock band, consisting of its current members, Jimmy Pop , Jared Hasselhoff , DJ Q-Ball , The Yin and Denial P. Cartier...
.
"Makossa" means "(I) dance" in
DualaDuala is the language spoken by the Duala people of Cameroon. The language belonges to the Bantu language family, and a subgroup of it called the Duala languages...
, a
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
ian language.
1973
| Chart |
Peak
position |
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Hot 100The 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...
|
#35 |
| US Billboard R&B Charts R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, formerly the Black Singles Chart, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues...
|
#21 |
Credits
- Arranged by Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala...
- Written by Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala...
- Bass by Long Manfred
- Drums by Joby Jobs
- Electric guitar by Manu Rodanet
- Percussion by Freddy Mars
- Piano by Georges Arvanitas
Georges Arvanitas was a jazz pianist and organist.His initial training was classical, but he switched to jazz in adulthood. His influences included Bud Powell and Bill Evans...
, Patrice Galas
- Acoustic guitar by Pierre Zogo