Njembe Gwet Paulemond - Paulemond a Ye Nsinga Ndinga
April 27, 2008
There are approximately 286 different languages spoken in Cameroon. It’s impossible to guess what percentage of those languages have been represented on vintage 78rpm records. Most of the Cameroonian 78s I’ve found have been in Douala dialect. Today’s post features some vintage African pop in the Basaa (or Bassa) dialect, which is actually spoken in greater numbers than Douala.
The label Opika was based in the Belgian Congo, and is equally as important as the Congolese labels Ngoma and Loningisa, and just as rewarding to track down. Amazing African pop, guitar, rumba, and ethnographic recordings from both Congo and Cameroon (as well as high-life in Ghana) were released on Opika. This small label was started ca. 1949 by two brothers from the Greek island of Rhodes, Gabriel Moussa Benetar and Joseph Benetar. The name “Opika” came from “opika pende” in Lingala, a phrase meaning “stand firm.”
It’s not clear from my research how long Opika lasted as a company, but probably not much further than the mid- to late 1950s. However, in a very brief period of time, they and their competitor labels left one of the most amazing musical legacies of Africa. These were small labels run by immigrants who truly enjoyed the region’s music. They wanted to fill a void, they wanted to record the best of a variety of local talent, and they succeeded (although it remains to be seen how much the artists were paid for their work). According to a quote from Rumba on the River, Gary Stewart’s fantastic history of Congolese popular music, 600,000 discs a year were being sold in the region in the early 1950s.
I could find zero information on Njembe Gwet Paulemond (or Gwet Paulemond Njembe, if you westernize the name), but the aforementioned Rumba on the River contains the best history written so far about those early years in Brazzaville/Kinshasha.
April 29, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Oh, I love this kind of stuff, what a great record. Given the history of the label you discuss, and time they were in business, is there any way to know when this was recorded?
April 29, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Not exactly - at least not as far as my knowledge goes. I’m pretty sure there exists zero paperwork for any of the Congolese labels, though one may be able to piece together a reasonable Opika discography gleaning information solely from existing paper sleeves which advertised their other releases. I would guess this stems from 1953-1955…it’s a fairly high number in their catalog.
April 29, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Just discovered your blog - wonderful treasures here! Thanks a lot for opening them up for us. It’s a pity though that many of your early uploads are gone.
April 29, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Thanks for stopping by! Had to lose the earlier tracks like most all other mp3 blogs do, because of high bandwidth usage. They may be back in the relatively near future, under a whole new platform. I will definitely make an announcement if and when that occurs.
April 30, 2008 at 4:43 am
WoW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just discovered your site. I’m writing an entry about it on my blog IMMEDIATELY. I love the concept and I cannot wait to dig through your selections! Lovely!
April 30, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Many thanks - hope you continue to stop by!
May 1, 2008 at 8:00 am
man, I’d love to see any information on the Greek owners of the label? Funny that the name sounds so much like “opa!” Some day we’ll see at least a semi-demi-quasi discographical listing of Opika, largely to your credit, I’m sure.
Anyway, a total jewel of a track. Really one of the highlights of your site, to my ears…
thanks,
ian
May 1, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Thanks, Ian! Glad you’re digging it.