Roger Bekono (Reissue)

Another hard to find gem is lovingly brought to our ears thanks to this reissue from Awesome Tapes From Africa! This time it's the self-titled 1989 classic from Cameroon's master of bikutsi (Cameroon's Ewondo-language dance pop) Mr Roger Bekono! Four tracks of relentlessly rhythmic and intense extended party jams, with Bekono's voice standing out amongst his peers' output of the day. - Flying Out

Roger Bekono made a deep mark in the contemporary history of Cameroonian music through the four-on-the-floor, ribald intensity of bikutsi. The Ewondo-language dance-pop style that forms an undulating tapestry of interlocking triplet rhythmic interplay came to international prominence in the European "world music" scene as the 90s began. But the relentless sound of bikutsi developed in Yaoundé at the hands of Bekono and many others, as it developed from a village-based singing style performed mostly by women into a cosmopolitan music force that rivaled the popularity of established musics like Congolese rhumba, merengue and makossa. With his unique-some say suave-voice, Bekono contributed much over a period of more than 10 years as part of the evolution of this traditional rhythm-turned-urban dance movement.

Tracklisting:

1. Jolie Poupé
2. Etam Mot
3. Enying Moni
4. Ye Wo Kombel