SKU: 70440262512

Roger Bekono - Roger Bekono

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Roger Bekono - Roger BekonoRoger Bekono made a deep mark in the contemporary history of Cameroonian music through the four on the floor, ribald intensity of bikutsi. The Ewondo language dance pop style that forms an undulating tapestry of interlocking triplet rhythmic interplay came to international prominence in the European "world music" scene as the 90s began. But the relentless sound of bikutsi developed in Yaound at the hands of Bekono and many others, as it developed from

Roger Bekono made a deep mark in the contemporary history of Cameroonian music through the four-on-the-floor, ribald intensity of bikutsi. The Ewondo-language dance-pop style that forms an undulating tapestry of interlocking triplet rhythmic interplay came to international prominence in the European "world music" scene as the 90s began. But the relentless sound of bikutsi developed in Yaoundé at the hands of Bekono and many others, as it developed from a village-based singing style performed mostly by women into a cosmopolitan music force that rivaled the popularity of established musics like Congolese rhumba, merengue and makossa. With his unique-some say suave-voice, Bekono contributed much over a period of more than 10 years as part of the evolution of this traditional rhythm-turned-urban dance movement. Bekono worked with legendary producer Mystic Jim, who had built a prolific home studio along with a crack team of musicians. They joined as part of the production of his self-titled album, which became known locally as "Jolie Poupée, " the name of the album's lead single and most popular song. For "Jolie Poupée" Mystic Jim programmed the kick or bass drum, adding effects to have a heavier bass. Overall the album represented a new level of finesse and professionalism for his second release. In the middle of 1989, Jolie Poupée was released by the label Inter Diffusion System and aggressively hit the radio, discos and national television. The music video for the title track was on loop on TV. It felt like everyone was talking about it, even artists in adjacent music scenes like makossa. The album came out on vinyl and cassette and remains Bekono's best-selling recording to this day. With Jolie Poupée Bekono finally made an impact outside Cameroon as the record captured listeners in some Central African countries like Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Sao Tome & Principe. In these countries, we find the Fang or Mfan people (also known as Ekang), Bantu-speaking ethnic groups that are also found in Cameroon. This umbrella language group includes the language in which bikutsi is mainly sung. Most of Bekono's songs are in French, Ewondo (of which Beti is a dialect) and Pidgin. The four songs on Jolie Poupée are all considered bikutsi classics. On September 15, 2016, Bekono died of a long illness at the age of 62. In the wake of his passing the media published a wave of tributes, thanking him for what he did for Cameroonian music. He was an admired musician, songwriter and guitarist, and some of his old colleagues and some of the new generation of performers showered Bekono with vibrant tributes via social media, many of which noting something to the effect of: "The artist dies but his works remain."

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SKU: 70440262512

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Ian
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
essential reading for activists and healers alike
Format: Paperback
as a white trauma therapist & somatic practitioner who in my early career worked primarily in Communities of Color, People of Color clients help me realize that I could not support them in healing the root of what they were dealing with if I did not understand the trauma of systemic and intergenerational racism. As an anti-racist educator, after co-facilitating many 2 day trainings and watching most people dissociate the whole time only come back around to repeating courses not remembering most of what we talked about, I was becoming disillusioned with both fields of practice. Resmaa Menakem's book came at just the right time in my journey, and I believe in our movement, to help us bridge the worlds of anti-racism and somatics and carve the path forward to heal our bodies and souls from white supremacy. White folks like myself will be tempted to breeze through this book and teach it to others; We would do well instead to form communities around the practices in here and integrate the deep healing available to us in both the history and somatics Resmaa offers us. This is truly one of our sacred movement texts on the path to Collective Liberation. For healers: This is the tool for healing the racism at the root of our trauma and disembodiment. For activists: This is the tool for healing the internalized racial oppression that busts up our movements. -- kelly germaine strickland, msw, lisw
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Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2020
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Duane Banks
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★★★★★ 5
Great Read
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Great Read
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026
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km
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Awesome Book
Format: Hardcover
Our son-in-law loves anything aviation. This book is beautifully made. Large and full of history and fun information. We gave it to him for Christmas. he loves it.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2025
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Shoreline shopper
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
Beautiful book with great pictures and historic notations
I bought this for my daughter who is a great plane enthusiast and makes regular trips to the Boeing Flight Museum in South Seattle. She visited this museum once and loves this book as a commemoration of that event.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2023
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Lenny
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Made a great gift!
Format: Hardcover
Arrived early and in great condition! Made for a great gift!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2025

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