Explore Makossa on Josplay Music Makossa music from Cameroon is characterized by infectious rhythms, lively dance beats, and soulful vocals, creating an energetic and celebratory performance style that engages audiences with vibrant enthusiasm.
A genre very similar to Soukous with a slight difference. In Makossa, there are more prominent use of brass instrument and a call and response performance style.
Eyoum's introduction of this genre marked the beginning of the first wave of Makossa, and in subsequent years, the genre saw the rise of artists like Eboa Lotin, Francis Bebey, Jean Dikoto Mandengue, and the group Negro Styl (Black Styl) contribute to the genre's popularity.
The Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango took makossa to an international level with his 1972 hit, Soul Makossa. Popularized in 1973 by American DJs Frankie Crocker and David Mancuso, the track took over the airwaves in the West, winning over diverse audiences across the Latino and Americas, paving the way for other African genres.
Makossa music features soulful and rhythmic singing styles, blending indigenous Cameroonian dialects with vibrant vocal expressions and lively instrumentation.
Makossa music often explores themes of love, celebration, social issues, and cultural pride, weaving diverse narratives into its rhythmic melodies.
The genre takes root from a traditional dance in Douala, the coastal regions of Cameroon. They also borrow from Latin music, Ghanaian highlife and Congolese Rhumba.
Makossa music's timbre is rich, blending rhythmic percussion, dynamic brass sections, and soulful vocals, creating a vibrant and textured sound.
Makossa music boasts lively beats, straightforward bars, syncopated rhythms, intricate melodic lines, and commonly follows a 4/4 time signature, creating a dynamic and infectious fusion of traditional and modern Cameroonian sounds.