Nigerian/Cameroonian singer Prince Nico Mbarga - "Sweet Mother" (with selected comments from that sound file's discussion thread)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents information about Prince Nico Mbarga and showcases a sound file of and lyrics for that Nigerian/Cameroonian singer's now classic 1976 song "Sweet Mother".

Selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread are also included in this post.

The contents of this post are presented for cultural, entertainment, inspirational, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Prince Nico Mbarga and his band Rocafil Jazz for their musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this example on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

In addition, thanks to all mothers and mother figures who take care of and care for children.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/prince-nico-mbarga-sweet-mother-sound.html for a 2015 pancocojams post about this song. That post includes the lyrics and some standard English translations of some of the Nigerian Pidgin English words that are found in Prince Nico Mbarga's song "Sweet Mother". That post also includes 37 comments from that YouTube sound file's discussion thread. Those comments are different from those that are featured in this 2019 post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCE NICO MBARGA
From https://www.allmusic.com/artist/prince-nico-mbarga-mn0000362321/biography
Artist Biography by Craig Harris
"The death of vocalist and guitarist Prince Nico Mbarga, following a motorcycle accident on June 24, 1997, marked the passing of one of Africa's most influential performers. Although he only recorded one significant hit, "Sweet Mother," in 1976, which sold more than 13 million copies, Mbarga played an important role in the evolution of African music. The son of a Nigerian mother and a Cameroonian father, Mbarga embraced the musical traditions of both cultures. With his soulful vocals set to the light melodies of his acoustic guitar, Mbarga created a unique hybrid of Ibo and Zairean guitar playing and uplifting highlife rhythms.

Mbarga's musical approach was inspired by the five years he spent in Cameroon during the Nigerian Civil War of the late '60s. Sharpening his instrumental skills while playing xylophone, conga, drums, and electric guitar in school bands, he made his professional debut as a member of a hotel band, the Melody Orchestra, in 1970. Returning to Nigeria two years later, he formed his own group, Rocafil Jazz, to perform regularly at the Plaza Hotel in the Nigerian river port city of Onitsha. After releasing a disappointing single in 1973, Mbarga and Rocafil Jazz had their first success with their second single, "I No Go Marry My Papa," which became a regional hit. The band's inability to break past their local following, however, resulted in their recording contract being dropped by EMI. The label's decision proved ill-fortuned when the band signed with the Onitsa label and recorded "Sweet Mother." Sung in Pidgin English, the song became one of the top sellers in the history of Nigerian music. In the six years that Mbarga and Recotal Jazz remained with Onitsa, 1975 to 1981, they recorded nine albums.

Temporarily relocating to England in 1982, Mbarga became known for his flamboyant, '70s glam rock-inspired performances. While he continued to appear with Rocafil Jazz, Mbargar also performed with London-based highlife band the Ivory Coasters and Cameroonian vocalist Louisiana Tilda. Despite launching his own Polydor-distributed record label, upon returning to Nigeria, Mbarga and the original members of Rocafil Jazz separated after several Cameroon-born members were deported. Although he later formed the New Rocafil Jazz Band, Mbarga failed to match his early success. Leaving music, he turned his attention to managing the two hotels that he owned, Hotel Calbar and the Sweet Mother Hotel."
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I reformatted this article to enhance its readability.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Prince Nico Mbarga Sweet Mother



visualito, Uploaded on Apr 10, 2007

One of great african hits from 70's

This song is very popular in my city Barranquilla ( Colombia ) where is known as "mazuza".
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Statistics as of May 12, 2019 at 8:04 AM
total # of views - 4,708,652

total likes - 19,000

total dislikes - 1,200

total number of comments -1, 939
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Here are a few comments from this sound file's discussion thread. These comments are posted in relative chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first, except for replies.

I added numbers for these comments on May 12, 2019 for referencing purposes only.

1. Desmond King, 2015
"Can't believe how people fight over whether its a Nigerian or Cameronian song . Who cares ? It's African music period .

A lovely song which tells of the struggles our mothers had with us , if we could only go back into time and make things easier for her . This song crosses cultural lines and you would have to be a tough SOB without a heart if this doesn't almost bring a tear to your eye, at the right time."

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REPLY
2. Desmond King, 2015
"I am not even African , but let me tell you
I was doing a little DJ at a wedding and made the mistake of playing that song .

The bride started crying , which in turn had people crying all over the place , her mom everyone was crying . They bride always teases me to this day as to why I made her cry with that song.

I wish African Americans enjoyed some of the wonderful Music and culture in the whole African Diaspora ."

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3. Mia Ladyy,2016
"His mother is NIGERIAN 💚💛💛. His father is from Cameroon 💚💛💚. Prince Nico Mbarga (R.I.P) was killed in a motorcycle accident on June 24, 1997, leaving behind "Sweet Mother" as the most popular song amongst Africans and their descendants worldwide. Sweet Mother is sometimes called Africa's anthem and has been voted Africa's favourite song by BBC readers and listeners. Beautiful Song!
Thanks to our Sweet Mothers, Sweet Mother Africa, Sweet Mother Earth for taking care of all of us. Sending my love to everyone enjoying this music. Call you Mum and Dad today and tell them how much you love them. Peace and Joy to you all. Keep loving and smiling. Thanks for posting this Beautiful Song!"

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REPLY
4. MannysMyName, 2018
"Sad irony: His mother died not long after 😢"

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5. Clive Skinner, 2014
"The original version that I remember playing in the Mambilla area of Nigeria on our old battery-powered record player in the 1970s. Happy days. This track reminds me of the pidgin English that is spoken widely in that area."

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6. Asedri Amin Amin, 2014
"Prince Nico was African born of Cameroonian and Nigerian parents. He was raised and lived in Nigeria until he died at the age of 47 in a motorcycle accident. Tilda successful sang lyrics of Prince Nico's songs despite she's a Cameroonian. The border between Nigeria and Cameroon has people that belong to same tribe divided into two separate countries by British colonial rule. Nigeria with the biggest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the entire Africa, needs her neighbors especiatially Ivory Coast which has the highest GDP in Sub Shaharan west Africa. For Africans, Fathers not only mean a lot, but also determine their African tribal race. Prince Nico been born with Cameroonian Father and retained his Mother's Nigerian Nationality says a lot about changing cultural norms in Africa."

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REPLY
7. Kira McCoy, 2015
"@Asedri Amin Amin Okay this may come across sarcastic due to the second comment but it's not meant to be. None of my friends has ever described Nico's nationality quite so objectively. So firstly thanks for that secondly do you write about Africa a lot and if so do you have a blog?"

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REPLY
8. Diplomatic Worrior, 2015
"@Kira McCoy Sorry it took me this long to reply to your honest and highly inquisitive comment! Honestly, I do read alot about Africa, mostly about the region where I came from. But, I don't write about Africa. Africa is a continent that draws so much indirect interest, because of that, so many scholastic individuals and non-profit organizations take great interest in writing unfiltered informative articles and academic books about Africa. In return, people like you and I are left to constantly read from other people's view point where we have to filter between biased and unbiased writings and opinions."

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REPLY
9. Chuck Taylor, 2015
"+Asedri Amin Amin This is really insightful...I was born and raised in France from Cameroonian parents and I still remember my moms playing this jawn and jamming with my pops and for some odd reason I've always naturally assumed that Prince Nico was from Bamenda, which is the English spoken part of Cameroon.

Thanks for the enlightenment."

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REPLY
10. Sam Oystein, 2015
"+Asedri Amin Amin Prince Nico is perhaps more popular in Ghana than most of his Ghanaian contemporaries. The quality of his music is extremely high. He was very much gifted and talented and blended many aspects of different genres of African music. There are elements of Akan, Ewe and Fon musical traditions in his songs. His ingenuity is his ability to transpose them to modern rock music. With your elaboration on boundaries, I think there is no point in Africans choosing to live with boundaries that were set up by the imperial European powers. Let us open up and create a large market that will break us away from Europeans. As a young man, I had more identification and connection with Prince Nico than most Ghanaian artistes who sang in our native language. Unity will always bring out the best!"

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REPLY
11. Ralf Schuster, 2017
"Prince Nico is great, Cameroonian or Nigerian, what the heck! Cheers from Limbe, the "nigerian part" of Cameroun

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