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Artist: Coco Mbassi
Category: Newcomer
Coco Mbassi got her first break in the cinema. When she was growing up in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, going to the movies was an entirely different experience from what might be expected. Instead of endless ads before the main feature, local children would stage singing competitions, performing a cappella versions of pop tunes before the audience. Coco first took part in one such event as a seven-year-old. She won first prize and the experience made it clear where her future vocation lay.
Many years later she found herself in Paris, paying her dues behind the scenes as a backing singer. Again her talent was recognised and she recorded and performed with a wide range of well known artists including Salif Keita, Manu Dibango and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
In 1996 she again won a prize, this time much more prestigious. Radio France International awarded her the 'Prix Découverte' for Muengue mwa Ndolo, the first song she had ever written. She began to get invitations to sing at various festivals, but the birth of her two children meant that her career didn't go quite as smoothly as it otherwise might have.
She again made an impression in 1999, singing harmony vocals on Béza Ba Dzo the fabulous comeback album by Anne-Marie Nzié, the 'Queen Mother of Bikutsi' - one of Cameroon's most distinctive styles, which has its epicentre in Yaoundé.
Coco eventually managed to record her own debut album Sepia but instead of being a purely rootsy affair, it is more 'chamber folk'. The influence of classical music can be head in Dondieu Divin's piano, and Serge Ngando-Mpondo's acoustic double bass adds a flavour of jazz. There are also hints of Makossa, Cameroon's most internationally renowned rhythm, and even a little Brazilian batucada for dancers.
The little girl who once sang in front of the silver screen now has her own backing singers. You can hear them best on the a cappella numbers.
Biography by Jon Lusk, November 2001
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