Born in the

Lekié Lekié is a department of Centre Region 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 The ...

region of

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 ...

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 Zap Mama is a Belgian singer-songwriter, performer, composer, lyricist, activist, video artist and ethno-vocal therapist born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raised in Belgium. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music ...

for their world tour. With Zap Mama she recorded the album ''Sabsylma'', and two live records (in Japan, and at Montreux). In 1996, Nyolo recorded her first solo album, entitled ''Tribu'' (Tribe), published by the Lusafrica Label. The album, awarded by Radio France Internationale in 1997, became a worldwide success, selling 300,000 copies. After several other albums - ''Multiculti (album), 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 on a cover of Carlinhos Brown, Carlinhos Brown's "Maria Caipirnha (Samba da Bahia)”. The arrangement represented the musical instrumentation and styles of Cameroon for Visa Inc., Visa's "Samba of the World", a digital campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Nyolo sings in French, Arabic, English, Spanish, and her native Eton language, 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 (album), 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'' (2013, World Music Network)

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

External links

Homepage of Sally Nyolo

Biography of Sally Nyolo
African Success, 11 September 2011
Discogs entry
Living people Cameroonian emigrants to France 21st-century Cameroonian women singers 1965 births 20th-century Cameroonian women singers {{Africa-musician-stub