Lost To COVID-19, African Jazz Icon Manu Dibango Passes Away At 86

Manu Dibango passed away today in France at the age of 86 from COVID-19. The iconic musician played a variety of genres and is known for one of his most popular songs, “Soul Makossa,” which was sampled by Michael Jackson and Rihanna.

Dibango was born in Douala, a coastal city in Cameroon. At the time, the country was governed by French and British governments, but Cameroon gained independence in 1972. By that time, Dibango had left his home country for a variety of educational and musical experiences across the world. He had grown into an extremely well-rounded musician, making music in all sorts of styles: traditional Cameroonian music, jazz, French chanson, Congolese rumba, soul, salsa and much more.

In 1972, Dibango released the famous “Soul Makossa,” which has the infamous refrain “mama-say, mama-sa, ma-makossa.” Michael Jackson sampled this in “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” from his 1982 album Thriller. Decades later, Rihanna used the same segment in “Don’t Stop The Music” from her 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad. What may be less commonly known about these three songs is the lawsuit that also bonds them. Dibango sued Michael Jackson and Rihanna, claiming that both used his hook without his permission. Jackson settled out of court. Then, when Dibango sued Rihanna—who asked Jackson if she could sample his song, but Jackson didn’t ask Dibango—the court rejected his suit as illegitimate. Before they used his song, though, it was already extremely successful. It spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, was featured in Soul Train and became a disco staple.

His career, however, is so much larger than this one hit. Dibango played music across the world with artists that were, also, from across the world. He toured in places like Algeria, the U.S., Belgium, Spain and more. Just last fall, he toured in France. His legacy is tremendous. He was one of the first to blend traditional African music with jazz, and he continued to defy boundaries with music throughout his career. He was also appointed as a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2004 for his accomplishments and efforts in fighting for artists’ copyrights and promoting peace in Africa.

On March 18, an official statement on his Facebook page confirmed that Dibango was admitted to a hospital in France for contracting COVID-19. The statement said he was “resting well and calmly recovering.” Unfortunately, he could not recover and died from the virus less than a week after.

A funeral service will be held privately, and a tribute to Dibango will be organized when possible. However, amid the current pandemic, it is impossible to know when this tribute will take place. In the meantime, Manu Dibango’s life will be celebrated and remembered through his music and imprint on other musicians.



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