Prince Nico Mbarga

The passing of vocalist and guitarist Prince Nico Mbarga on June 24, 1997, after a motorcycle accident, removed one of Africa’s most influential performers. Though his catalog contained only a single major success, the 1976 release “Sweet Mother,” which moved more than thirteen million copies, Mbarga shaped the trajectory of African music in lasting ways. Born to a Nigerian mother and a Cameroonian father, he drew freely on the traditions of both countries. His soulful voice, paired with the airy lines of his acoustic guitar, fused Ibo and Zairean guitar techniques with buoyant highlife rhythms. Five years spent in Cameroon amid the late-’60s Nigerian Civil War supplied the spark for this approach. While there he refined his technique on xylophone, conga, drums, and electric guitar in school ensembles, making his professional entrance in 1970 with the hotel band Melody Orchestra. Two years later he returned to Nigeria and assembled Rocafil Jazz, which became a regular attraction at Onitsha’s Plaza Hotel. A lackluster 1973 single preceded the regional breakthrough “I No Go Marry My Papa,” yet limited national reach prompted EMI to end the relationship. The move proved costly for the label once the group joined Onitsa and cut “Sweet Mother,” a Pidgin English track that ranks among the biggest sellers in Nigerian recording history. Between 1975 and 1981 the Onitsa years yielded nine albums from Mbarga and Rocafil Jazz. A 1982 relocation to England showcased his theatrical, ’70s glam-rock-inflected stage presence; alongside Rocafil Jazz he also collaborated with the London highlife outfit the Ivory Coasters and Cameroonian singer Louisiana Tilda. Back in Nigeria he started his own Polydor-distributed imprint, but the original Rocafil Jazz lineup dissolved after several Cameroonian members were deported. Although he subsequently launched the New Rocafil Jazz Band, Mbarga never recaptured his earlier commercial momentum. He eventually stepped away from music to oversee the two hotels he owned, Hotel Calbar and the Sweet Mother Hotel.