Koffi Olomide, Papa Wemba

Koffi Olomide began his career as a guitarist, but then joined Papa Wemba's Viva la Musica as a backing vocalist. He went solo in the mid-'80s, moving to Paris and making use of both Parisian and Cameroonian soukous musicians, with excellent results. His so-called "Tcha Tcho" beat is seen by some as a new direction for a genre growing old and stale. ~ Steve Huey