Coco Argentée, (originally Corine Céline Ntyame), was born August 13, 1982, in

Mbandjock Mbandjock is a city located in the Centre Province of Cameroon. See also *Communes of Cameroon The Divisions of Cameroon are the third-level units of administration in Cameroon. They are organised by divisions and sub divisions of each provi ...

, Centre Cameroon. This Cameroonian singer and songwriter lives in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Argentée began her career in 2010 with the successful release of the song, ''Dans la tanière,'' of her first album ''Nostalgie''. In February 2016, she released ''Crayon de'' ''Dieu'', a maxi single of two titles. This single earned her the nickname ''La Go Galaxy''. Coco Argentée now has three albums. The third album, ''Ouragan,'' was released in June 2018.

Biography

Childhood and early beginnings

Coco's mother died when she was very young and she grew up with her father, sisters and stepmother. She embraced music at a young age. At the age of six, she joined the Protestant choir "''The Voice of the Angels"'' at Ngoumou. A few years later, she started the group ''Les Feeling Girls'' that performed at the

Manu Dibango Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango (12 December 1933 – 24 March 2020) was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father w ...

concert at Mvogt College. She left the group when her father, Thomas Mekoulou Ndengue, a railwayman, was transferred to Ngaoundere, in the

Adamawa Region The Adamawa Region () is a constituent region of the Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre and East Region (Cameroon), East regions to the south, the Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest and West Re ...

where she sang in cabarets without the knowledge of her parents. At the age of 19, she won two awards: the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Prize and the UNESCO Prize. In 2003, Coco Argentée left

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

for

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

where she earned a bachelor's degree in 2004. She then moved to

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

and performed in cabarets until 2006 when she settled in

, where she currently lives with her husband, and their two children. She completed a training program and worked as a nurse for several years, until she released her first album, leaving the healthcare industry, to focus on her musical career.

Career

Coco Argentée's solo career began in 2010 with the release of her first album ''Nostalgie'', consisting of eight tracks. The album combines the musical genres of

Bikutsi Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaoundé. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa. It is primarily dance music. ...

and

Zouk Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section. Musicians from Mart ...

. The most popular album track is ''Dans la tanière,'' a tribute to the city of Ndjamena where she began her career, had considerable success in both Kamer, and N'Djamena. The album won awards, including Musical Revelation of the Year for 2012 at Canal 2'Or and Best Bikutsi of 2013 at Festi-Bikutsi. In April 2014, Argentée released a 10 track second album, ''Trésor'', of which the song ''Fallait Pas,'' recorded in Cameroon, was quite popular. The album references'' Cameroonian music icon Talla André-Marie, in the song ''Bikutskin. In February 2016, Argentée released the song ''Le crayon de Dieu'' that nos has more than 2 million

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

views. ''Femme'' et ''Coco Jackson'' was released in 2017. In June 2018, Coco Argentée released her third album entitled Ouragan. The 11 track album is supported by 10 concurrently released YouTube videos.

Discography

Albums

* 2010: ''Nostalgie'' * 2014: ''Trésor'' * 2018: ''Ouragan''

Singles

* 2016: ''Le crayon de Dieu'' * 2017 : ''Coco Jackson'' * 2017: ''Femme'' *2021:''le amour vrai''

Prizes and awards

* 2012: ''Best Diaspora artist'' in the ''Planet Star Music'' Awards * 2013: ''Musical revelation of the year'' at the ninth edition of Canal 2'Or * 2013: ''Best Bikutsi of the year'' at Festi-Bikutsi * 2014: Balafon Music Awards album of the year * 2014: ''Artist of the year'' at the Balafon Music Awards * 2015: ''Best female artist'' at the tenth edition of Canal2'Or

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Argentée, Coco 1982 births Living people 21st-century Cameroonian women singers People from Centre Region (Cameroon)