Anne-Marie Nzié

Anne-Marie Nzié is a Cameroonian bikutsi singer. In the 1940s, Nzié began performing bikutsi, the music native to her home in central Cameroon. She signed with Pathé Marcom Records.Martin.] Nkolo and Ewens 443.] Nzié remained active over the next five decades and helped to popularise bikutsi throughout Cameroon.Nkolo and Ewens 443.] Her long career earned her the epithets "Queen of Cameroonian Music", "Queen Mother of Cameroonian Music", [Nyamnjoh and Fokwang 257.] and "Queen Mother of Bikutsi"."Coco Mbassi".]

Nzié was a supporter of both of Cameroon's presidents, Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya. [Nyamnjoh and Fokwang 263.] For example, she dedicated the song "Liberté" to Paul Biya and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) political party. In 1992, the Social Democratic Front used the song during John Fru Ndi's presidential campaign; Nzié said that she was "vehemently opposed" to the move. [Quoted in Nyamnjoh and Fokwang 265.] In another incident, student protesters changed the lyrics of the song to say, "Paul Biya go away". Nzié responded by saying that the song was always intended to be pro-Biya and pro-CPDM.

After a long absence, Nzié released the album "Béza Ba Dzo" in 1999. Coco Mbassi sang backup on the album.

Notes

References

* " [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artist/2fw6/ Coco Mbassi] ". BBC. Accessed 10 April 2007.
* Martin, Denis-Constant (2004). " [http://www.african-geopolitics.org/show.aspx?ArticleId=3678 Music in the Face of Authorities] ". "African Geopoligics". Accessed 10 April 2007.
* Nkolo, Jean-Victor, and Graeme Ewens (2000). "Cameroon: Music of a Small Continent". "World Music, Volume 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East". London: Rough Guides Ltd.
* Nyamnjoh, Francis B., and Jude Fokwang (2005). " [http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/104/415/251.pdf?ijkey=15ZVTWoNSXQ8Y&keytype=ref Entertaining Repression: Music and Politics in Postcolonial Cameroon] ". "African Affairs", 104/415, 251–274.