Makossa

Makossa
Stylistic origins	Palm-wine music
Cultural origins	20th century, Douala, Cameroon
Subgenres
Makassi Bikutsi
Other topics
Music of Cameroon African popular music

Makossa is a music genre originating in Douala, Littoral Region, Cameroon in the late 20th century. Like much other music of Sub-Saharan Africa, it uses strong electric bass rhythms and prominent brass. Makossa uses guitar accompaniments, in the forms of solo and rhythm guitar, with a main singer (lead vocalist) and a choir of backup singers, with the focus being on the texture of the guitar, the role it plays in the song, the relationship between it and other instruments (including the bass, drum set, horns, synthesizers, etc.), the lyrical content and languages sung as well as their relationship (as far as timbre goes) with the music, the uses of various percussion instruments, including the bottle, the groove of the bass as well as the drums, and the use of technical knowledge and microprocessors to make the music. It is in common time (4/4) for the vast majority of cases. Language-wise, it is typically sung in French, Duala or Pidgin English. It first consisted of guitar-picking techniques with complex bass grooves, and gradually picked up a brass section from funk, and in the 1970s gained a string section from disco influences. In the 1980s makossa had a wave of mainstream success across Africa and to a lesser extent abroad.

Makossa, which in some accounts is said to mean "the contortions" and others to mean "(I) dance" in the Duala language, originated from a Duala dance called the kossa. Emmanuel Nelle Eyoum started using the refrain kossa kossa in his songs with his group "Los Calvinos". The style began to take shape in the 1950s though the first recordings were made a decade later by Ekambi Brillant, who set the pattern for makossa. There were artists such as Eboa Lotin, François Missé Ngoh and especially Manu Dibango, who popularised makossa throughout the world with his song "Soul Makossa" in 1972. It is the most sampled African song, in history to date. The chant from the song, mamako, mamasa, maka makossa, was later used by Michael Jackson in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" in 1983. In 2007, Rihanna similarly sampled it too for "Don't Stop The Music". Many other performers followed suit. The 2010 World cup also brought makossa to the international stage as Shakira sampled the Golden Sounds popular song "Zamina mina (Zangalewa)".

Etymology

The word "makossa" is originated from the Duala words "m'a" and "kossa". "Kossa" is generally translated as "dance", but it is a new interpretation, a neologism expressed initially as a cry of exhortation, and as "a kind of swear word that has the status of a stimulus, a spur." In the book Le Makossa: une musique africaine moderne, a passage including this quote is written as follows:

"En effet, le terme Makossa, dérive de « m'a kossa » qui veut dire littéralement en langue duala et au pluriel les contorsions ; au singulier « di kossa » la contorsion. Ce vocable « Kossa » est un terme à la lisière du néologisme et du cri d'exhortation, mieux, une sorte de juron ayant statut de stimulus, d'aiguillon."

In the same book, the author explains that according to Remy Minko Mba (late journalist):

"Kossa is a kind of exclamation, a cry of joy that is usually uttered to give more vigor, [and] more energy to the dance."

In the original French version, a passage including the translated version of this quote reads:

"Remy MINKO MBA poursuit: « Kossa est une sorte d'exclamation, un cri de joie que l'on pousse généralement pour donner plus de vigeur, plus d'énergie à la danse. Il s'agit donc d'une sorte de stimulus qui doit nécessairement provoquer une réaction positive »."

In Cameroonian Pidgin English, a cognate that could one of the ultimate underlying origins of the word "makossa" is: "kosh". One of the definitions of this word is: "to insult, abuse, curse, swear at."

Origins

Before "makossa" as a word existed, the genre of music known as makossa today emerged in the late 20th century. It was based on the currents of musical influence in the city where it was born.

The term makossa was founded by Nelle Eyoum. He did this when casually shouting out "kossa kossa" to children who would dance in reaction. This is akin to shouts of exhortation to children in daily life. This was to stimulate partners on the dance floor to redouble or increase in fervency in the dance, especially during the frenzied part of the composition, commonly called "secousse" or "balle à terre".

But even though Nelle Eyoum coined the term, they were others who played a significant role in the developing of the music. In the mid-1960s, Ekambi Brillant set the pattern for makossa through his popular recordings. Other influential musicians include as Lobe Lobe Rameau, Mouelle Guillaume, Ebanda Manfred, Tibo Essombe, Epee Mbende Richard, Eitel Tobbo, Ebolo Emmanuel, Charles Lembe, Ruth Soppo, Jacqueline Ewondo, Tapelon, Epata, Eyoum Decca, Willy le Pape, etc.

Early development

Makossa developed, expanded and evolved into one of most popular and ubiquitous modern music genres in Cameroon. Its influence shaped and altered the musical discourse in the country for more than half a century, so much so that its reach expanded far beyond the nation's borders to other parts of West and Central Africa.

References

• West, Ben (2004). Cameroon: The Bradt Travel Guide. Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press Inc.
• Noah, Jean-Maurice (2010). Le Makossa: une musique africaine moderne. Paris, France: L'Harmattan