Soul Makossa (4:27)

“Soul Makossa” is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango. It is often cited as one of the first disco records. In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of “Soul Makossa” in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York’s most popular Black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, 23 or more groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record. Atlantic eventually licensed the song from the French record label Fiesta. Their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973; in 1999 Dave Marsh wrote that it was “the only African record by an African” to crack the top 40. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart. It became “a massive hit” internationally as well.
“Soul Makossa” was originally recorded as a B-side for “Mouvement Ewondo,” a song about Cameroon’s association football team.

It is probably best remembered for the chanted vocal refrain “Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa”, which was also used in Michael Jackson’s 1983 “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (albeit in a different key with a not-so-monophonic melody) during the song’s final bridge. It is also sampled in the hip hop song “Face Off” by artist Jay-Z on his album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 as well as the single “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna. “Makossa” means “dance” in Duala, a Cameroonian language.