Prince Nico Mbarga

Prince Nico Mbarga
Birth name	Nico Mbarga
Also known as	Prince Nico
Born	(1950-01-01)1 January 1950
Origin	Obubra, Cross River State, Nigeria
Died	23 June 1997(1997-06-23) (aged 47)
Genres	Highlife
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1970–1997
Formerly of	Chief Osita Osadebe

Nico Mbarga (1 January 1950 – 23 June 1997), better known as Prince Nico Mbarga, was a Cameroonian-Nigerian highlife musician, born to a Nigerian mother from Mbembe Obubra LGA, Cross Rivers State and a Cameroonian father in Abakaliki, Nigeria. He is renowned for his hit song "Sweet Mother", recorded with his band Rocafil Jazz, which has been described as the best-selling song in history by an African recording artist.

Early life

Mbarga grew up at Ikom, Cross River State with his Cameroonian father who is a timber sawyer and a Nigerian mother who is a peasant farmer. His Love for music began when he was just a boy, spending hours fishing by the river. His father inadvertently sparked his passion for highlife music. He brought home a secondhand Philips radio, and he was captivated by the sounds of Bobby Benson's ' Taxi Driver'. From that moment on, highlife music became a part of his life. He spent hours listening to the radio, absorbing every beat and he knew he wanted to be part of it.

His father, from a long line of xylophone players, taught him the instrument, a handheld version with metal tines plucked by the thumbs. But Mbarga wanted to make a sound more like the western instruments of highlife, so he built his own xylophone from dried-out plantain skins and scooped bark.

Following his Father's passing from a sudden illness, life took a harsh turn. His mother struggled to make ends meet, to support his family, he started singing at bars. Often going unpaid.

During the 1967 Nigerian Civil War, he escaped to Mamfe, Cameroon, but his mother and sibling stayed back in Nigeria. There he met lucy his first love at age of 17. There in Mamfe, he worked as a band boy for a Congolese group. Tasked with carrying instruments to concerts at local hotels. He came to learn and love the Congolese rumba which was accompained by melodic guitar phrases. He was determined to learn. Thus, he self taught and mastered the Conga drum,Bass and Congolese style Electric guitar finger picking.

After the three hard years of the Biafran War came to an end, Mbarga looked to launch his career back in Nigeria. After one failed border-crossing by road, in which Lucy and Mbarga were arrested by officials and sent to prison for three days for not having passports, they successfully made it across a second time, going “the bush way” in 1970. They came to Onitsha, a trading town on the banks of the Niger River, with at its center one of the largest markets on the continent.

Personal life

Mbarga was married to Esame Mbarga and was survived by 10 children; Nico, Descrow, Estelle, Slimphilz, Pauline, Joan, Lillian, Lucy, Lionel, and Nicoline. In 2011, Pauline, one of his children passed on following  a brief illness making nine remaining children. Among the nine Mbarga's surviving children, only Nico, Descrow, Estelle and Slimphilz are actively involved in music and working to promote their late father's ‘panco' style of music. Joan, Lillian, Lucy, Lionel, and Nicoline are said to be either currently engaged in doing business or working white collar jobs at the Nigerian civil service commission.

Music

He played the xylophone, conga, drums, bass guitar and electric guitar. He first started playing in school bands and he made his professional debut as a member of a hotel band, the Melody Orchestra, in 1970.

Career

Early years

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 popular music. With his soulful vocals set to the light melodies of his acoustic guitar, Mbarga created a unique hybrid of Nigerian and Congolese guitar playing and uplifting highlife rhythms. He formed his own group, Rocafil Jazz, to perform regularly at the Plaza Hotel in the eastern Nigerian 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", a regional hit. The band's inability to break past their local following resulted in their recording contract being dropped by EMI, a decision that proved ill-fortuned when the band signed with Rogers All Stars, a Nigerian recording company based in Onitsha, and recorded "Sweet Mother".

Sung in Pidgin, "Sweet Mother" became one of the top sellers in the history of Nigerian music. In the six years that Mbarga and Rocafil Jazz remained with Rogers All Stars, 1975 to 1981, they recorded nine albums.

Later years

On a repeat tour to England in 1982, Mbarga became known for his flamboyant, 1970s glam rock-inspired performances. While he continued to appear with Rocafil Jazz, Mbarga also performed with London-based highlife band the Ivory Coasters and former Rocafil Jazz member, Cameroonian vocalist Louisiana Tilda. Despite Mbarga launching his own Polydor-distributed record label, upon his return to Nigeria, he and the original members of Rocafil Jazz separated after some disagreements. 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 four-star hotel that he owned, the Sweet Mother Hotel, located in the town of Ikom in Cross River State Nigeria, just minutes away from the Cameroon-Nigeria border.

Death

Prince Nico Mbarga was killed on his way to Ikom to see his mother in a motorcycle accident on 23 June 1997 in Calabar while trying to buy spare parts for his car along the ever busy Mayne Avenue Road, leaving behind "Sweet Mother" as the most popular song among Nigerians. "Sweet Mother" is sometimes called "Africa's anthem" and has been voted Africa's favourite song by BBC readers and listeners.

Discography

Studio albums

• Sweet Mother (1976)
• Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz (1976)
• Rocafil Jazz 76 (1976)
• Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz (1977)
• Free Education in Nigeria (1977)
• Family Movement (1978)
• Rockafil Jazz & Nicholas Mbaraga (1978)
• Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz (1978)
• Cool Money (1979)
• Experience 001 (1979)
• Lucky Marriage! (1980)
• No Die, No Rest (1980)
• Music Message (1981)
• Let Them Say (1982)
• Papal Visit (1982)
• Chameleon (1984)
• Panco Juju System (1986)
• Sweet Family (1987)
• Only One God (1989)

External links

• Sweet Mother is Africa's anthem
• Sweet Mother lyrics
• "Radio Netherlands interviews Prince Nico Mbarga", Radio Netherlands Archives