Sally Nyolo

Who are they?

A singer, songwriter and producer born in 1965 in Eyeng-Meyong, in the Lekié, in Eton country. She moved to Paris at 13 and started out as a backing singer in 1982, before joining the Belgian vocal group Zap Mama in 1993.

What made them famous

Her first solo album, “Tribu” (1996), sung entirely in Eton, her mother tongue, won RFI’s Prix Découverte in 1997. With “Beti” (2000), partly recorded in Cameroon, she put bikutsi, a rhythm born in the forest regions of the Centre, at the heart of her music.

Key facts

• With Zap Mama she recorded the album “Sabsylma” and two live records, in Japan and at Montreux.
• Returning to work in Cameroon, she set up a studio there and produced “Studio Cameroon” in 2006 with young Yaoundé musicians.
• She sings in French, English, Spanish, Arabic and Eton.
• A Knight of the Order of Valour.