RIP Manu Dibango

Feels shitty to start a thread about him just as he passed (fuck COVID19) but let's mark our appreciation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF92yOsv3Y8&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3rq4ZaSoHUsV9lNsXPZyb1jepNUuOJXXy_ePagIl89a36uRlE77DoeTLQ

Wtf?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HiUeqU27gU

love this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI_mT1_O_Vo

Fuck Covid-19!

:-(

:(

RIP

awful. rip.

ugh, so sad. RIP

maybe i'll take some quarantine time to finally watch ceddo after playing the shit out of its soundtrack for years.

Soul Makossa alone is enough for him to be legendary

RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A4tDEcy0n8

truly a fallen giant

If you don’t mind some 90s worldbeat glitz on your Dibango, his Wakafrika album is wonderful. A who’s who of African guests like Youssou N’Dour, Salif Keita, and Angelique Kidjo, plus Peter Gabriel, Sinead O’Connor, and more. And the production sounds like a million bucks.

Never knew this story of how it got popular:

In 1972, David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his parties at The Loft.[3] The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly purchased.[3] The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who deejayed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station.[3] Since the original release was so obscure, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record.

And of course the "Wanna Be Startin Somethin" repetition of the mama say mama sah ma makossa. You kind of have to think that was an influence on Lionel Ritchie putting a lot of nonsense African syllables into "All Night Long" too.