Cameroon’s extraordinary musical diversity reflects hundreds of communities and languages, while makossa and bikutsi have become especially influential across Africa and the wider world.
The best-known Music of the Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.
The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and various percussion instruments.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia’s “Music of Cameroon” article.
Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” carried a Cameroonian groove into global popular culture and became one of African music’s most influential recordings.
Anne-Marie Nzié, a foundational voice in Cameroonian popular music, connects modern song with the country’s linguistic and cultural heritage.