Born in the

Lekié Lekié is a department of Centre Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 2,989 km and had a total population of 354,864. The capital of the department lies at Monatélé. It is named after the Lekié River. Subdivisions T ...

region of Cameroon in 1965, Sally Nyolo left her homeland at the age of 13 to settle in Paris where she has lived since. Nyolo started her professional career in 1982, first as a backup-singer working with numerous French and African artists, and by composing music for radio and cinema. In 1993, Nyolo joined the Belgian a cappella group Zap Mama for their world tour. With Zap Mama she recorded the album ''Sabsylma'', and two live records (in Japan, and at

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxi ...

). In 1996, Nyolo recorded her first solo album, entitled ''Tribu'' (Tribe), published by the Lusafrica Label. The album, awarded by

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

in 1997, became a worldwide success, selling 300,000 copies. After several other albums - '' Multiculti'' (1998), ''Beti'' (2000), ''Zaione'' (2002) - Nyolo finally returned to her native Cameroon, where she set up a studio, with the intention to explore and develop the local music scene. "I intend to sell the Cameroonian culture abroad by creating an international music association which will link young Cameroonian musicians to other artists around the world, " she said. This effort resulted in the album ''Studio Cameroon'', published in 2006 by World Music Network. In 2014, Nyolo collaborated with

COPILOT Music and Sound COPILOT Music and Sound LLC (commonly known as COPILOT Strategic Music + Sound, COPILOT Music, or COPILOT) is a New York-based music content and strategy company launched in 2008 by partners Jason Menkes and Ravi Krishnaswami. COPILOT provides music ...

on a cover of Carlinhos Brown's "Maria Caipirnha (Samba da Bahia)”. The arrangement represented the musical instrumentation and styles of Cameroon for Visa's "Samba of the World", a digital campaign for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

. Nyolo sings in French, Arabic, English, Spanish, and her native Eton. In her music, she mixes styles and rhythms, fusing forest sounds with urban beats. ''The Boston Herald'' stated, "Nyolo has gone out of her way to blend West Africa with cosmopolitan Paris."Young, Bob. "Singer is making her future with languages of her past." Boston Herald, 21 August 1998

Discography

Solo albums * ''Tribu'' (1996) * '' Multiculti'' (1998) * ''Beti'' (2000) * ''Zaione'' (2002) * ''Studio Cameroon'' (2006) * ''Memoire du Monde'' (2007) * ''La Nuit a Febe'' (2011) * ''Tiger Run'' (2014) Contributing artist * ''

The Rough Guide to Acoustic Africa ''The Rough Guide To Acoustic Africa'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 2013 featuring acoustic music spanning Sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the album contains two discs: an ov ...

'' (2013,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" compet ...

)

Weblinks

Homepage of Sally Nyolo

Biography of Sally Nyolo
African Success, 11 September 2011
Discogs entry

References

* Young, Bob. "Singer is making her future with languages of her past." Boston Herald, 21 August 1998 * Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Nov. 2014 Living people Cameroonian emigrants to France 21st-century Cameroonian women singers 1965 births 20th-century Cameroonian women singers {{Africa-musician-stub