Oliver N'Goma (23 March 1959 – 7 June 2010) was a Gabonese afro-zouk and

soukous Soukous (from French '' secousse'', "shock, jolt, jerk") is a genre of dance music from Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville. It derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s, becoming known for its fast dance rhythms and intricate guitar improv ...

singer and guitarist. He was born in

Mayumba Mayumba is a Vili- and Shira-speaking town of about 5,208 people on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Gabon, at the end of the N6 road, lying on a peninsula separated from the mainland by the Banio Lagoon. Description It is known for its long sandy ...

in south-west Gabon in 1959. He is best known for his 1989 song ''Bane''.

Early life

N'Goma's was first exposed to music by his father, a teacher and

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

player. N'Goma took his first music lessons at the age of eight, and began performing for audiences in 1971, after his family left

for the Gabonese capital,

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

so that he could attend school. While taking classes in accounting, he joined the school band, called Capo Sound, with whom he learned to play guitar. The group performed at formal events, honing N'Goma's ability to perform on-stage. In 1988, N'Goma's love of film led him to a job with Gabon TV, where he worked in France as a

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...

Career

In Paris, N'Goma completed his demo tapes, which he had recorded at home in Gabon. He shared this music with

Manu Lima Manu Lima is a Senegalese-born Cape Verdean author, composer, interpreter and musician, he sings cabo-zouk, funaná, cabo love, cola-dance, afrozouk and kizomba music genres. He was born in Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tam ...

, a well-known record producer from Cape Verdean. Lima was impressed with N'Goma's music and handled the artistic direction of his first record, ''Bane''. The album enjoyed modest success until receiving heavy airplay in Africa. In particular, the title track rose in popularity in Africa, France, and the French West Indies, as a party

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

. The album is one of the best-selling African albums to date. N'Goma released a second album, ''Adia'' in December 1995, again working with Manu Lima. Five years later, N'Goma released his third album, ''Seva'', without the help of Lima. In 2006, the pair reunited for ''Saga''. A

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation, ''Best of Oliver N'Goma'' was released in 2004.

Discography

*''Bane'' (1990) *''Adia'' (1995) *''Séva'' (2001) *''Saga'' (2006)

Death

Oliver N’Goma died from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

, which he had battled for the last two years of his life, on 7 June 2010 at Omar Bongo Hospital in

, Gabon.

In popular culture

*His song ''"Adia"'' was featured in the

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

film ''

Beau Travail ''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella '' Billy Budd''. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French For ...

''. *His song '
Nge
'' was sampled in the

Fivio Foreign Maxie Lee Ryles III (born March 29, 1990), known by his stage name Fivio Foreign, is an American rapper from New York. He rose to fame in 2019 with his single "Big Drip", which spawned a remix with rappers Lil Baby and Quavo. He is signed to fel ...

song
Self Made
'.

References

External links

* 1959 births 2010 deaths Deaths from kidney failure Gabonese singers Zouk musicians People from Nyanga Province 21st-century Gabonese people {{Gabon-bio-stub