Henri Dikongue

Musician and singer Henri Dikongué was born In Douala, Cameroon on December 6, 1967, and grew up in Yaoundé, the country’s capital. He learned to play acoustic guitar and sing before moving to Besançon, France in 1985 to study law. However, he chose to focus on a career in music and moved to Paris in 1989, where he began to study classical guitar. After collaborating with African musicians Manu Dibango and Papa Wemba, he released his debut album, Wa, in 1995. The album was a mix of traditional music from his home country mixed with a hint of rumba and reggae. In 1997, Henri Dikongué released his second album, C'est La Vie, and performed at the Africolor world music festival in Paris. He traveled to the US in the summer of 1998 and began a 30-date cross-country tour. In 2000, he issued the album N’oublie jamais and followed that release with Biso Nawa (2005) and Diaspora (2016).