Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango (1933–2020) was a Cameroonian saxophonist, singer, and composer whose music blended African traditions with jazz, funk, and other styles.
Soul Makossa: A 1972 recording by Manu Dibango that became an international dance hit. This is the song that brought Dibango’s sound to a global audience.
Makossa: A popular music and dance style originating in Cameroon, shaped by local rhythms and urban influences. Dibango drew directly on this Cameroonian style in the song that made him famous.
Fela Kuti: A Nigerian musician and political activist who developed Afrobeat with his band Africa 70. Dibango and Kuti were prominent African bandleaders working across jazz and funk influences.
Sampling (music): The reuse of recorded sound within a new musical composition. Dibango’s refrain was reused in later pop recordings, raising questions about credit and permission.
Disco: A dance-music genre that emerged in the 1970s, built around steady beats, orchestration, and club culture. The groove of “Soul Makossa” fed into New York disco and later dance music.
Jazz: A music tradition rooted in African American communities, known for improvisation, swing, and evolving styles. Jazz improvisation and saxophone phrasing were central to Dibango’s musical language.
Josephine Baker: An American-born French entertainer who became an international stage star and French Resistance agent. Dibango toured with Baker, gaining experience in the European music scene.
Copyright infringement: The unauthorized use of material protected by copyright. Dibango’s lawsuit over uncredited uses of “Soul Makossa” made the song’s borrowing history public.
Afrobeat: A Nigerian popular-music style combining West African rhythms, jazz, funk, and extended ensemble arrangements. Dibango’s work shared Afrobeat’s dialogue between African rhythms and jazz-funk.
Funk: A rhythm-centered popular-music style emphasizing syncopated bass lines, drums, and interlocking grooves. Funk supplied a rhythmic vocabulary that Dibango fused with African musical forms.