Henri Dikongue

Cameroon has produced some of West Africa's most innovative artists and grooving dance music. Best known on the international scene is the sax player Manu Dibango, whose '70's smash "Soul Makossa" became the first African song to reach the U.S. top 40.

Another well-known group from Cameroon, Les Tetes Brulees, paint their faces with neon streaks and perform hyped-up bikutsi rhythms with a punk rock attitude. Sally Nyollo, a former member of Zap Mama, has also brought the music of Cameroon to an international audience.

For the most part, however, the depth and richness of Cameroonian music has yet to be discovered outside of African dance clubs, where the hyperactive makossa rhythm is a regular floor-filler.

Henri Dikongue represents another facet of Cameroonian music, one that is worlds away from the souped-up synthesizer riffs of modern makossa. Sensitive and lyrical, Dikongue's music does not conform to stereotypes and is not afraid to incorporate a range of influences. From Cuban son to French chanson, Dikongué allows a global perspective to shine in his songs, while maintaining the roots and unique sound of his country's music.

Influenced by his native Cameroon's traditional rhythms, French singer Charles Aznavour, salsa, samba, reggae, and American jazz and blues, Dikongue's sound is both pensive and joyous, provocative and comforting. His lyrics address repression and racism, but the tone of the songs points to the resilience and compassion of which the human spirit is capable. —Courtesy Calabash Music