makossa (cameroon)

love these african rhythms that are well represented in the 50 rhythms of the world
at least according to songlines magazine who had this to say about makossa
it started life as rhythm in a hand-clapping game among school kids in cameroon
then in 1972 manu dibango adapted it added a dash of american-style funk and turned it into 'soul makossa'
the track was picked up by a new york radio station and the makossa phenomenon was born
once there were 9 different versions of the track in the billboard chart
and the makossa beat has even been credited with launching the 70's disco boom
michael jackson later copied the rhythm on his album thriller
now that is big talk and even bigger claims to fame
but nothing would surprise me about the reach of african music
i went on a search on youtube for makossa
by far the most common artist was none other than the afore mentioned manu dibango
get the impression he is a superstar in his home country of 18 million people
a bit of wiki research also comes up with some other interesting facts
particularly that he is credited by many as inventing disco
when he released his first album in 1972 featuring soul makossa
listening to that track and it is easy to hear the parts m jackson stole
there's also very healthy slabs of jazz, funk and r&b
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