Interview by Hortense Fuller and Seth Cashman All Photography by Seth Cashman Translation from French to English by Hortense Fuller AfricaSounds had the recent fortune of meeting with Cameroon's global ambassador, Henri Dikongue, and the resulting interview offers an intimate glimpse into the persona and artist behind the music.  With three superb albums to his credit, Henri Dikongue continues to challenge listeners by creating music that walks a thin line, providing both listening pleasure and  stark social critique.  Dikongue himself describes his music as an enigma, "Why would someone want me to challenge them via my provocative lyrics and then dance to it as a result?" Join us as we discover Henri Dikongue in his own words.

AfricaSounds:  Henri, let's trace your musical path from the very beginning.  You've been in it a long time, no? Henri Dikongue:  Oh, I've been in music for a long, long time… I will be 33 this year, and I began music way back… I was born in Douala, Cameroon but was raised in Yaounde [the capital city].  The first guitar that I had was at the age of five.  It was my uncle who bought it for me, and, because I was much more interested in the guitar than in my studies, my father broke my first guitar! But I was able to continue to play because my uncle bought me a second guitar, and with that I would play in hiding. Now, I am honest about this: I was not an easy child.  And in a family of eight kids, I was also the most "delicate" child as it was I who most emotional and could bother all the other kids – put simply I was a turbulent child. It was because of that that my parents were obligated to send me off to Europe, to Switzerland, to live with my sister. It was important that I leave the country as I was creating a stir within the equilibrium of the family.

Henri Dikongue - Photo by Seth Cashman

I arrived in Switzerland around 1984. I took up my studies in Switzerland, and as my sister was there, we were able to also go over to the border of France, and it was there that I was able to meet a group of musicians, and we were able to create an association – a musical group – made up of myself, Alfred M’Bongo, Manuel Wandji (all participants in Dikongue’s first album, Wa). I bought another guitar and would play with this group for various parties and celebrations, such as Noel. Soon afterwards, the album Wa was released. When the first album came out, the reaction was that it was something new, something that didn’t really fit into a musical mold. You see, it did not fit into any set style of music – it resembled nothing and yet was completely new. It spoke of a bit of everything: a bit of Reggae, a bit of Brazilian, a bit of Blues, a bit of Jazz, etc. That took some time, but eventually the reaction was very strong.

Yet in France, it was a bit of a mixed reaction, as my music did not resemble Soukous or Makossa, basically the things that the French were trying to classify African music into. The situation for African music in Paris is delicate. For the French, African music is envisioned as tam-tam, dance music [example, N’dombolo], or just someone belting music out in commercial fashion. Therefore it was very difficult for the reception of my music as there were songs on my first album Wa that were tough, with lyrics speaking of racism and other realities of society. From the press perspective, the French newspapers received my album Wa quite well. The newspapers Le Monde, Liberation enjoyed it. I even got positive coverage from the media of the right wing! From the press perspective, there was no problem as the media all covered me. But the public took some more time to come to grips with my style of music.

In the USA, there is some confusion about my albums because my debut album Wa was actually released on Shanachie Records a year after the debut of my music in the USA with my second album, C’est la Vie on Tinder Records. So although Americans might view the Tinder release C’est la Vie as my initial work, it is actually Wa which was my first album. Then, my most recent and third album, Mot’a Bobe was just released on Tinder Records. AfricaSounds:  Let's talk a little more about Wa.  Manuel Wandji produced it... Henri Dikongue:  ...Manuel Wandji was my producer on that first album. He is a very good friend of mine, always has been and still is.  Etienne M'bappe also played on my first album, and it was he who was the producer of my most recent album, Mot’a Bobe. The first album was really done in a simple style, actually the primary tracks done in a home studio by Manuel Wandji at Studio Besancon. You see, when I had met Manuel Wandji, we decided to do the recording as an association, such that each one of us brought what we could into the musical mixture.

With the second album, C’est la Vie, which was my first released by Tinder Records in the USA, I knew that I had already tried certain instruments (for example: sax and harmonica) on the first album Wa, so I said to myself that I should change. I never want my music to be the same from one album to the next. Also, I always want my music to give the effects of travel: within a three minute song, I will make you travel from Africa to Brazil and then you will find yourself ending up in Europe. It is this effect that I strive towards in my compositions and music. The title song, C’est la Vie, really worked in the European markets. The reaction was great, but that was no surprise to me at all. You see, with C’est la Vie, I left out all the controversial subject matter that I typically put in my songs, subjects such as revolt, race, realities of society, etc. Instead, on C’est la Vie, I concentrated on the theme of love, with a particular focus on the newborn baby. This was a subject that everyone was happy to listen to. It was calm and gentle as a theme. The entire spirit changed, with this calm music. There was a single for that song, one side was C’est la Vie, while the reverse side was We Nde Mba, a song which is a bit of a mix between Salsa, Bossa, Rumba. C’est la Vie was a complete shift from the more controversial songs on my first album, Wa, in which I dropped a musical bomb of sorts. With the C’est la Vie album, I shifted to music that makes you want to move a bit, with my music I handed out joy. In Europe, the radio and the press were really behind the song, but the market (in terms of sales) still wasn’t totally behind it. So the sales only partially followed all the radio commotion. But the radio really worked well: in Spain it worked, in Portugal it worked, in Germany it worked, in Switzerland it worked, in France the radio and the press worked. Viola. I started to tour the USA with this second album, C’est La Vie. In the rest of the world, it was with the first album Wa where I started to tour. At first America was tough, but after a bit it was great.

Now, with the third and most recent album, Mot’a Bobe, I decided to mix the two themes and continue with what I like to do most. It speaks about all senses, but my main focus in again on the problems of society. If from time to time, you hear my adding a love song, it is in order to calm everything down on the album for a bit. With this album, I speak of the hypocrisy of people. AfricaSounds:  We noticed that in the the song Clone -Pona Manso Ebonga, you sing in Lingala, a language of the Congolese people.  What made you decide to sing in Lingala?  Henri Dikongue:  Well, with the song Clone - Pona Manso Ebonga, I sing Lingala, but that is not too significant. You see, on the next song, you might hear me singing in Spanish. The reason behind Lingala is that in Cameroon – actually in Africa – we were hit with Congolese music for the past sixty years, after Franco and Rochereau it was Abeti, and so forth. In Central Africa, we only listened only to Congolese music. They are the best musicians and best singers in Africa. But Lingala is also very similar to the words of my own language, Douala. When I speak, there are words in my own language of Cameroon that overlap with the language of Lingala. In Congo, you will find people using some of the very same words in Lingala. You see, the Douala people were part of the population that left Congo and came up into Cameroon via the large Wouri river. So it is because of that migration that, linguistically speaking, my people have something in common with those who speak Lingala. I have sung in Zulu on the song Africa, on the album Wa. And I also sing in French on many of the songs. But many of my songs are in my own language, Douala. I prefer an African who sings with their own language first and foremost, because they were born with that. One must not be ashamed to use their first language before appropriating others.

Henri Dikongue - Photo by Seth Cashman

AfricaSounds:  So, how has your own music been received back in Cameroon?  Henri Dikongue:  Cameroonians did not understand what I was doing musically at first, because it was completely new and different, but after a little while they began to understand it. You see, Cameroon is very present in my music. There is Bikutsi rhythms, Makossa elements, Assiko elements, all within my music. There is even Senegalese music in some of my songs. In each title of my songs, there is a bit of music from one country or another. In Africa, we like it when an artist makes people dance. So much of my music can make people dance. But if you were to listen to my lyrics, which can be quite serious, then you wouldn’t necessarily think that my music makes you want to dance. Why would someone want me to insult them via my provocative lyrics and find themselves dancing as a result of it? AfricaSounds:  Your approach is unique to say the least, reminiscent of someone like Wasis Diop, in that you both fuse different traditional and modern elements so beautifully: Henri Dikongue:  Well, Wassis Diop is a grand artist to me. And I have met him several times. The last album that he came out with was deep, but very few could understand it. He is someone who composes very well, but I believe he needs to take time to explain his music compositions to people so that they can better understand his genius.

AfricaSounds:  You've worked with a lot of great musicians who have enhanced your artistic vision, among them freelancers like (bassist) Etienne M'Bappe and (drummers) Mokhtar Samba and Valery Lobe... kind of a who's who of the Paris scene.  So, how do you go about choosing the "right" musicians for a given project? Henri Dikongue:  My decision is based upon what they bring to the music. In each album, there is a team which changes. First, there are the regulars who are always there on each album, but also there are the invites who add different elements to the music. On C’est la Vie, there was Valerie Lobe who was invited to play percussion. He is my direct cousin. On Wa, I invited Armand Sabal-Lecco, who is the bassist for Paul Simon. On Mot’a Bobe, I invited a lot of invites, among them Mokhtar Samba. I believe that when one tries to do something new, one must give everyone something to work with. It’s important that every musician knows that they need the variety of sounds and styles that each musician brings to the music mixture. For example, I brought my big-brother Manu Dibango, into the mix for Mot’a Bobe. Instead of an artist believing that they can everything all alone - and it is this which often hurts African music - it is important for an artist to work in collaboration with musicians to create something special. We cannot be independent by ourselves. No, we must work together. AfricaSounds:  How about future projects, Henri?  What's next for you?  Any plans yet? Henri Dikongue:  At the moment, I don’t have any particular ideas for my next project. You see, I have just came out with the latest album, Mot’a Bobe on Tinder. On the first album, Wa, I spent four years working on it, and then two and a half on C’est la Vie.  This third album took two years.  It is time for me to review and listen to these past three albums again, so that I can illuminate ideas but not to repeat them on my next work.  As for the next album's themes, I have not decided yet if it will be a calm album or not.  But I do have this idea to incorporate many more collaborations into my next work. I will see if I can work with someone that sings well and can collaborate with them. But I can’t tell you who that is at the moment!