Portrait of a Legend: Manu Dibango
Before Afrobeat became a global marketing term, before “world music” found shelf space in record stores, and before Western pop fully embraced African rhythm structures, there was Manu Dibango — the towering Cameroonian saxophonist who fused jazz, funk, soul, disco, and makossa into something unmistakably futuristic. Born in Douala, Cameroon in 1933, Dibango became one of the first African musicians to truly break into international pop consciousness while remaining deeply rooted in African musical traditions. His work helped bridge continents, […]