Mangambeu

What is it?

Mangambeu is a Bamileke music and dance from around Bangangté, in the West region. It livens up ceremonies and celebrations such as births and weddings. Modernised in the 1970s, it became one of the country's popular rhythms.

History and origin of the name

The origin story places its birth in the early 1950s, in Bangangté, at the wake of a local notable: young dancers are said to have moved from a drum dance to a new tune. According to this account, the rhythm is named after the "genealogical" name of a young dancer, Dangmi Marie, which the crowd chanted to hail her talent.

Rhythm, instruments and dance

• Layered rhythms: the bass usually plays in four, while the drum kit and xylophones play in 3/4 or 6/8; the music often moves between two chords and leaves more room for rhythmic than melodic improvisation.
• In its traditional form, xylophones, drums and sanzas, played by men; the modern version blends in guitar and electric instruments.
• A dance of small steps in which men and women sway their hips, sometimes with the upper body leaning forward.

Key artists

• Pierre Didy Tchakounté — born in 1950, from Bazou in the Ndé, described as the pioneer of modern mangambeu; his heyday came in the 1970s and 1980s.
• Kareyce Fotso — a singer born in Bandjoun who keeps mangambeu alive alongside other styles.
• Jack Djeyim — a guitarist named among the genre's leading figures.

Today

Hugely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, mangambeu has since seemed to run out of steam, in Cameroon and abroad, despite DJ remixes. The more urban bend skin is related to it, and mangambeu is still played at ceremonies in the West.

What sources disagree on

The story of the rhythm's birth, and the origin of its name, are detailed by only one of the sources consulted. Some sources also treat mangambeu and bend skin as the same thing, while others present the latter as an offshoot.