New Release : Andre-Marie Tala and Bend Skin Beats on Retro Afric demonstrating that Tala’s got Soul! André-Marie Tala has been at the heart of Cameroonian music for over 30 years. With tracks from 1972 to 1998, ‘Bend Skin Beats’ covers some of the most important phases of his career and helps introduce a key artist of the West African pantheon, sometimes known as the ‘African Stevie Wonder’

The album includes a version of one of his earliest hits, ‘Hot Koki’ which was copied by James Brown, who reworked it as ‘Hustle!!! (Dead on it)’. An early collaborator with Manu Dibango, Tala later gave the pan-African star, San Fan Thomas, his first break in the 1970s.

His Folklore’s gone Funky! In the 6Os Tala introduced Tchamassi, the infectious dance that swept the continent, and in the 90s he created Bend Skin, a funky-folklore fusion associated with the motorbike taxis that buzz around the dusty streets of urban Cameroon.

Buy a copy of Bend Skin Beats