"Soul Makossa" is a 1972 single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ian makossa

Makossa

Makossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa, which means " dance" in Duala, originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences...

 saxophonist Manu Dibango

Manu Dibango

-External links:*...

. It is often cited as one of the first disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 records. In 1972 David Mancuso

David Mancuso

David Mancuso created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City later known as "The Loft". The first party "Love Saves The Day" was in 1970...

 found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft

The Loft

The Loft is the location for the first underground dance party that was created by David Mancuso on February 14, 1970 in New York. Since then, the term The Loft has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, or beverages are sold...

 parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker

Frankie Crocker

Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker was a famous New York radio DJ...

, who DJed at WBLS

WBLS

WBLS is an urban adult contemporary FM radio station in New York City, operating on 107.5 MHz. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WLIB...

, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was then unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record. Atlantic eventually licensed the song from the French record label Fiesta. Their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973; in 1999 Dave Marsh

Dave Marsh

Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...

 wrote that it was "the only African record by an African" to crack the top 40. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart. It became "a massive hit" internationally as well.

The song is probably best known for the chanted vocal refrain

Refrain

A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...

 "ma-mako, ma-ma-sa, mako-mako ssa", which was adapted and used in songs by many prominent artists.

"Soul Makossa" was originally recorded as a B-side for "Mouvement Ewondo," a song about Cameroon's association football team. Manu Dibango

Manu Dibango

-External links:*...

 later recorded a new version for his 1994 album Wakafrika.

A second version of the song, called Soul Makossa 2.0, was recorded in France by Manu Dibango

Manu Dibango

-External links:*...

 and Wayne Beckford for a release in 2011, as the first single of Dibango's album Past Present Future.

The refrain and its adaptations

The song's refrain consists of the phrase "ma-mako, ma-ma-sa, mako-mako ssa", which is a play in the word "Makossa", Dibango's main music genre. After the popularization of the song, the phrase was adapted and used in several popular songs, including:

• 1973: Watergrate
  Watergrate
  Watergrate is a novelty single by Dickie Goodman released on Rainy Wednesday Records in 1973. Goodman got the idea for the label name after looking outside one day. He noticed that it was raining and that it was a Wednesday....
  
  , by Dickie Goodman
  Dickie Goodman
  Richard Dorian "Dickie" Goodman was an American music producer.-Career:In June 1956 Goodman created his first record, "The Flying Saucer", which he co-wrote with his partner Bill Buchanan, and featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio show...
  
  
• 1973: Sessomatto, by Armando Trovaioli
  Armando Trovaioli
  Armando Trovaioli is an Italian film composer and pianist with over 200 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for low-budget exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana genre. He collaborated with Vittorio De Sica on a number of projects, including one segment of...
  
  
• 1982: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
  Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
  "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" is a song by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was released on May 8, 1983, by Epic Records as the fourth single from Jackson's sixth studio album Thriller in 1982. It is the first song on Thriller...
  
  , by Michael Jackson
  Michael Jackson
  Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
  
   — during the song's final bridge
  Bridge (music)
  In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
  
  ; altered to "mama-se, mama-sa, mama ku-sa"
• 1982: Funky Soul Makossa, by Nairobi & The Awesome Foursome
• 1988: Girl You Know It's True
  Girl You Know It's True
  Girl You Know It's True is a 1989 album that was the U.S. debut of pop group Milli Vanilli.In 1989, the majority of songs from Milli Vanilli's Europe-only release All or Nothing were repackaged and retitled Girl You Know It's True...
  
   (N.Y. Subway Extended Mix), by Milli Vanilli
  Milli Vanilli
  Milli Vanilli was a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, visually fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved international success and earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on Feb. 21, 1990. Milli Vanilli became one of the most...
  
  
• 1988: A Day in the Life, by Black Riot
  Black Riot
  Black Riot was the name of an American band created by Todd Terry. The single "Warlock/A Day in the Life" was released on the Champion Records label, and entered the UK Singles Chart on 3 December 1988 . It reached a high of number 68, and remained in the chart for 5 weeks.- References :...
  
   feat. Todd Terry
  Todd Terry
  Todd N. Terry is an American DJ, producer, and remixer.-Career:Terry's productions extensively used samples blending the sounds of classic disco, the Chicago sound, and elements of hip-hop....
  
  
• 1989: Pump Your Fist
  Knowledge Is King
  Knowledge Is King is the third album by MC Kool Moe Dee.-Track listing:#"They Want Money"#"The Avenue"#"I Go to Work"#"All Night Long"#"Knowledge is King"#"I'm Hittin' Hard"#"Get the Picture"#"I'm Blowin' Up"#"The Don"#"Pump Your Fist"...
  
  , by Kool Moe Dee
  Kool Moe Dee
  Mohandas Dewese , better known as Kool Moe Dee, is an American Hip Hop MC prominent in the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He was born in Manhattan, New York...
  
  
• 1989: Fast Lane, by Urban Dance Squad
  Urban Dance Squad
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• 1990: Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts), by A Tribe Called Quest
  A Tribe Called Quest
  A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
  
   — altered to "mama say yah, ma-ma ku-sa"
• 1990: Butt Naked Booty Bless, by Poor Righteous Teachers
  Poor Righteous Teachers
  Poor Righteous Teachers is a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers are known as pro-Black conscious hip hop artists, with musical content inspired by the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths. Wise Intelligent, as...
  
  
• 1991: Trophy, by Geto Boys
  Geto Boys
  Geto Boys is a rap group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its lyrics which included misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia...
  
  
• 1991: Naked, by Nicki Richards
  Nicki Richards
  Nicki Richards is an American singer, songwriter, producer, actor based in Manhattan, New York City. She is also known as a backing singer for a number of renowned artists and on a big number of studio recordings. Her father was a high ranking African-American naval officer and her mother, Donna...
  
  
• 1991: On the House Tip, by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
  Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
  Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was a hip-hop group led by Mark Wahlberg. The Funky Bunch consisted of Wahlberg , Scott Ross , Hector Barros , Terry Yancey and Anthony Thomas...
  
  
• 1994: Mama Say
  Mama Say
  "Mama Say" is the debut single of the Bloodhound Gang. It was originally released as a single from the band's 1994 EP, Dingleberry Haze, but is usually associated with the 1995 album Use Your Fingers...
  
  , by Bloodhound Gang
  Bloodhound Gang
  Bloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American comedy band, although it began as a rap group and gradually changed its genre throughout the years...
  
  
• 1994: Samba Makossa
  Da lama ao caos
  Da Lama ao Caos is the debut album of the Brazilian band Chico Science & Nação Zumbi. Released in 1994, the album presents a fusion of rock and roll and maracatu and contributed for spreading music of Pernambuco around the world...
  
  , by Chico Science
  Chico Science
  Francisco de Assis França , better known as Chico Science, was a Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the Mangue Beat cultural movement...
  
  
• 1994: Amma Dekh Tera Munda Bigda, by Bali Brahmabhatt and Alka Yagnik
  Alka Yagnik
  Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards...
  
  
• 1996: Cowboys, by Fugees
• 1996: Do That to Me, by The Lisa Marie Experience
• 1996: Get Funky, by Casino
• 1997: Face Off
  In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
  In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 is the second studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 4, 1997 on Roc-A-Fella Records. Despite mixed criticism towards its more mainstream-oriented sound and lyrical substance, the album debuted at number 3 on the U.S...
  
  , by Jay-Z
  Jay-Z
  Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
  
   feat. Sauce Money
  Sauce Money
  Sauce Money is a rapper who worked with Jay-Z in his early career and was featured on Big Daddy Kane's album Daddy's Home on the track "Show N' Prove" alongside Scoob Lover, Shyheim, Jay-Z, and Ol' Dirty Bastard...
  
  
• 1997: Intro/Court/Clef/Intro
  The Carnival
  "The Carnival" is the debut album released by hip hop writer Wyclef Jean. Released on June 24, 1997, Jean also served as the album's executive producer. The album encompasses many musical genres, including hip hop, reggae, folk, disco, soul, Son Cubano and Haitian music...
  
  , by Wyclef Jean
  Wyclef Jean
  Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
  
  
• 1998: Gettin' Jiggy wit It
  Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
  "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" is a single by Will Smith from his album Big Willie Style. Released in early 1998 and co-written by Nas, it was Smith's first hit produced by Poke & Tone, who replaced his long-time partner Jazzy Jeff, though the record-scratching techniques of Jazzy Jeff can be heard in the...
  
  , by Will Smith
  Will Smith
  Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
  
   — altered to "mama (uh), mama (uh), mama come closer"
• 1998: Startin' Something
  Make It Reign
  Make It Reign is the first and only album by rap duo Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz. It was released on June 2, 1998 through Columbia and featured production from some of hip hop's biggest producers including Clark Kent and Jermaine Dupri...
  
  , by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
  Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
  Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz were an American rap duo consisting of Sean "Lord Tariq" Hamilton and Peter "Peter Gunz" Pankey. They are best known for their song "Deja Vu " which went to #9 on the U.S...
  
  
• 1998: Viva!, by Makossa Magic
• 1999: Macosa, by Outsidaz
  Outsidaz
  The Outsidaz was a hip hop group from Newark, New Jersey, perhaps best known through their affiliation with fellow New York area rappers, the Fugees, and Detroit area rappers D12.-History:...
  
   feat. Eminem
  Eminem
  Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
  
  
• 2000: Feelin' So Good
  Feelin' So Good
  "Feelin' So Good" is the fourth single from Jennifer Lopez's debut album, On the 6 . Released in March 2000, it features rappers Big Pun and Fat Joe. Although it was released as the album's fourth single, Lopez wanted this song to be the lead single, instead of "If You Had My Love"...
  
   (Video Version), by Jennifer Lopez
  Jennifer Lopez
  Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
  
   feat. Big Pun
  Big Pun
  Christopher Lee Rios , better known by his stage name Big Pun , was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s...
  
   and Fat Joe
  Fat Joe
  Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
  
  
• 2002: Up and Down (In and Out), by Deborah Cox
  Deborah Cox
  Deborah Cox is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart , a record held for nearly eight years. She has achieved ten number-one hits on...
  
  
• 2002: 4 Tribes, by Organ Donors
• 2003: Hailie's Revenge (Doe Rae Me)
  Straight from the Lab
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  , by Eminem
  Eminem
  Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
  
   ft. Obie Trice
  Obie Trice
  Obie Trice III is an American rapper and songwriter. He began rapping at the age of 11, and is most known for his time spent signed to Shady Records. Obie Trice has formed his own record label, Black Market Entertainment.-Biography:...
  
   and D12
  D12
  D12, an acronym for The Dirty Dozen, is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. D12 has had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia...
  
  
• 2005: Algo más que música, by El Chojin
  El Chojin
  Domingo Edjang Moreno , better known by his stage name El Chojin , is a Spanish rapper...
  
  
• 2005: Mama-Kossa, by Back to Basics
• 2006: Mama Say Mama Sa, by The Caramel Club
• 2007: Don't Stop the Music
  Don't Stop the Music (Rihanna song)
  "Don't Stop the Music" is a dance-pop song performed by Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna from her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad. It was the third single from the album in most of Europe, the second single in Germany and Spain and the fourth single in the rest of the world...
  
  , by Rihanna
  Rihanna
  Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
  
  
• 2008: Brooklyn Girls, by Charles Hamilton
  Charles Hamilton (rapper)
  Charles Eddie-Lee Hamilton, Jr. is an American musician, rapper and record producer, born in Cleveland, Ohio.Mainstream popularity came from being featured on the cover of the Freshmen 09' XXL, along with Asher Roth, B.o.B and Wale...
  
  
• 2008: Havenhurst Prophet Posse, by Jib Kidder
• 2010: Hands In The Air, by Girl Talk
  Girl Talk (musician)
  Gregg Michael Gillis , better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released five LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on 333 and 12 Apostles....
  
  
• 2010: Lost in the World, by Kanye West
  Kanye West
  Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
  
   feat. Bon Iver
  Bon Iver
  Bon Iver is a Grammy nominated folk band founded in 2007 by American indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. It includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was...
  
  , Alicia Keys
  Alicia Keys
  Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
  
   and Charlie Wilson

1973

Chart	Peak position
US United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...  Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	#35
US Billboard R&B Charts Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	#21

Personnel

• Arranged by Manu Dibango
  Manu Dibango
  -External links:*...
  
  
• Written by Manu Dibango
  Manu Dibango
  -External links:*...
  
  
• Bass by Manfred Long
• Drums by Joby Jobs
• Electric guitar by Manu Rodanet
• Percussion by Freddy Mars
• Piano by Georges Arvanitas
  Georges Arvanitas
  Georges Arvanitas was a jazz pianist and organist.- Life and career :He began life as a child of Greek immigrants from Constantinople. At the age of four he began studying piano and initially trained as a classical. However he switched to jazz some time in his teens and would be known for jazz in...
  
  , Patrice Galas
• Acoustic guitar by Pierre Zogo