Musiques d'Afrique:
Mpandé Star
(Cameroon)
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| Mpandé
Star is seen as a new hope for Cameroonian music. The popularity of
makossa music during the 1970s and 1980s has been surpassed by the Ndombolo
vague from Congo. For some time, it appeared that Cameroon was not able to
bring forward a new dance or new rhythm to stop the Congolese invasion. In the
second half of the 1990s, new talent surfaced. Mpandé Star is one of these new talents.
Coming from a scarcely populated province (unlike the makossa singers who are from Douala), youngster Mpandé Star and his Orchestra Black Panther brings about a new style called soukous-zéngué, which uses elements of the Adouyaye music from the East Province. And he is successful, because he has already released four albums since 1997, the second album Visa pour la France 98 sold 70,000 times. Born into a musical family (his elder brother J.R. Mpandé scored two hits in Cameroon in 1994 and 1995), it was already at the age of 17 that Mpandé Star could be found in the studio with Sam Fan Thomas and the late Kotto Bass. But he is also a gifted football player, at present he is under contract in Toul (France). Musicians on "Uppercut": Dany Mwanga (guitar), Eric Sefou (guitar), Scorpion Kabamba (bass), Sandio Aubin (keyboards, programming), Felix Nguindou (toumba), Mpandé Star, Eric Mopéro, Chadel, Mwela Shengen (lead vocals). More information about Mpandé Star can be found on his website www.mpandestar.com. |
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| Title | Year | Label | Remarks |
| Uppercut | 2002 | NPI / Afrisons AF00010.8 | |
| Prestation de serment | 2000 | Simon Music SIM 29349 | |
| Visa pour la France 98 (100% Soukous-Zengué) | 1998 | NPI NAL 970165 | |
| Nostalgie | 1997 | Nicky Palace NP3 | Local cassette |
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