Coco Argentée, (originally Corine Céline Ntyame),[1] was born August 13, 1982,[2] in Mbandjock, Centre Cameroon. This Cameroonian singer and songwriter lives in Belgium.

Coco Argentée
Birth nameCorine Céline Ntyame
BornAugust 13, 1982
Mbandjock, Centre Cameroon
GenresBikutsi, Zouk
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active2010–present

Argentée began her career in 2010 with the successful release of the song, Dans la tanière, of her first album Nostalgie.[3] In February 2016, she released Crayon de Dieu, a maxi single of two titles.[4] This single earned her the nickname La Go Galaxy. Coco Argentée now has three albums. The third album, Ouragan, was released in June 2018.

Biography

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Childhood and early beginnings

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Coco's mother died when she was very young and she grew up with her father, sisters and stepmother.[1]

She embraced music at a young age. At the age of six, she joined the Protestant choir "The Voice of the Angels" at Ngoumou. A few years later, she started the group Les Feeling Girls that performed at the Manu Dibango concert at Mvogt College.[5] She left the group when her father, Thomas Mekoulou Ndengue, a railwayman, was transferred to Ngaoundere, in the Adamawa Region where she sang in cabarets without the knowledge of her parents.[1] At the age of 19, she won two awards: the Commonwealth Prize and the UNESCO Prize.[6]

In 2003, Coco Argentée left Cameroon for Chad where she earned a bachelor's degree in 2004. She then moved to N'Djamena and performed in cabarets until 2006 when she settled in Belgium, where she currently lives with her husband, and their two children.[5] She completed a training program and worked as a nurse for several years, until she released her first album, leaving the healthcare industry, to focus on her musical career.[7]

Career

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Coco Argentée's solo career began in 2010 with the release of her first album Nostalgie, consisting of eight tracks.[8] The album combines the musical genres of Bikutsi and Zouk. The most popular album track is Dans la tanière, a tribute to the city of Ndjamena where she began her career, had considerable success in both Kamer, and N'Djamena. The album won awards, including Musical Revelation of the Year for 2012 at Canal 2'Or and Best Bikutsi of 2013 at Festi-Bikutsi.

In April 2014, Argentée released a 10 track second album, Trésor,[6] of which the song Fallait Pas, recorded in Cameroon, was quite popular. The album references Cameroonian music icon Talla André-Marie, in the song Bikutskin.[6]

In February 2016, Argentée released the song Le crayon de Dieu that nos has more than 2 million YouTube views. Femme et Coco Jackson was released in 2017.

In June 2018, Coco Argentée released her third album entitled Ouragan.[9][10] The 11 track album is supported by 10 concurrently released YouTube videos.[10][11]

Discography

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Albums

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  • 2010: Nostalgie
  • 2014: Trésor
  • 2018: Ouragan

Singles

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  • 2016: Le crayon de Dieu
  • 2017 : Coco Jackson
  • 2017: Femme
  • 2021:le amour vrai

Prizes and awards

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  • 2012: Best Diaspora artist in the Planet Star Music Awards[12]
  • 2013: Musical revelation of the year at the ninth edition of Canal 2'Or
  • 2013: Best Bikutsi of the year at Festi-Bikutsi
  • 2014: Balafon Music Awards album of the year
  • 2014: Artist of the year at the Balafon Music Awards[13]
  • 2015: Best female artist at the tenth edition of Canal2'Or[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Coco Argentée, la Go dans la Tanière". Culturebene (in French). February 13, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  2. ^ "Cameroun – Les mélodies: Coco, un bout de "Trésor" après la "Tanière" argentée". Cameroon-Info.Net (in French). Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "Coco Argentee – Cameroun". Afrisson (in French). Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "BIKUTSI : Coco Argentée dévoile "Le Crayon de Dieu"". Auletch (in French). February 17, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Coco Argentée : "Dans le ventre de maman je bougeais déjà trop"". reglo.org (in French). September 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Actualités et Infos en direct au Cameroun et dans le Monde". Journal du Cameroun (in French). Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  7. ^ "Coco Argentée : " Aujourd'hui je m'assume complètement..."". Culturebene (in French). March 13, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  8. ^ "mboa.info". ww12.mboa.info. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  9. ^ "Coco Argentée " Ouragan " dans les bacs". cameroon-tribune.cm. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "" Ouragan " le nouvel album de Coco Argentée, bientôt dans les bacs". Culturebene (in French). May 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  11. ^ "Musique : La star de bikutsi Coco Argentée revient avec Ouragan" (in French). Cameroon Radio Television. June 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  12. ^ "Planete star music vidéo awards: les vainqueurs sont..." Culturebene (in French). March 21, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Cameroun – Musique: Val Chammar récompensée au Balafon Music Awards 2014". Cameroon-Info.Net (in French). Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  14. ^ NYOUNAÏ, Paola. "Canal d'or Act10 : les lauréats !!!". Le Bled Parle | Actualité au Cameroun info Cameroun et tendances (in French). Retrieved November 27, 2018.