Makossa

Makossa is built around a heavy electric bass, bright horn sections, and a danceable mid-tempo groove that pulls from funk, jazz, and traditional Cameroonian rhythms. The horns — typically saxophone, trumpet, and trombone — play short repeated riffs rather than long melodies, and the bass moves continuously underneath. Vocals are usually in Duala or French. The genre's polished, jazz-influenced edge distinguishes it from heavier West African dance traditions, giving the music a cosmopolitan feel that travels easily across dance floors.

Makossa developed from traditional Duala dance music in the bars and clubs of Douala, Cameroon's main port city, through the 1950s and 1960s. Saxophonist Manu Dibango released Soul Makossa in 1972 as a B-side to a track celebrating the African Cup of Nations; the song became an unexpected international hit, with the New York DJ Frankie Crocker championing it and David Mancuso playing it at the Loft. Its influence extended into disco and pop, including Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (1983), which reused the mama-se mama-sa chant — a borrowing later acknowledged through a settlement.

Listen to the bass — it carries melody and rhythm simultaneously, with constant movement rather than root-note pulses. Horn riffs interlock and answer each other rather than playing in unison. The vocal hooks frequently use shouted call-and-response phrases that function more as rhythmic punctuation than as sung melody.

Manu Dibango's Soul Makossa (1972) is the canonical track. Big Blow (1976) leans further into funk, and the later Wakafrika (1994) album presents a pan-African update of the formula.

The mama-se mama-sa chant from Soul Makossa was used without credit on Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (1983), and Dibango pursued legal action; Jackson eventually settled. Years later Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music (2007) sampled the Jackson track in turn, triggering another round of negotiations.