André-Marie Tala is a prominent Cameroonian guitarist, percussionist, and vocalist, born on October 29, 1950, in Bandjoun, West Cameroon. His early life was marked by the loss of his mother at age four and his father twelve years later. At the age of fifteen, he became blind. Turning to music as his passion, he built his first guitar and later founded his first band, the Rock Boys, which was later renamed Les Tigres Noirs (The Black Tigers) in 1967 and included Sam Fan Thomas as a guitarist. His career took a major step in 1972 when he moved to Paris and collaborated with Manu Dibango, leading to his first big musical contract and successful titles in Cameroon like "Sikati" and "Potaksina."
The next year, his album Hot Koki achieved international success. The title song became the subject of a legal dispute when James Brown plagiarized it for his 1975 hit "The Hustle." After a four-year legal battle, Tala won the case, and Brown was ordered to pay him back all his rights. Tala's music, often compared to Stevie Wonder due to their shared disability and musical talent, blends traditional Bamiléké rhythms with genres like funk, rock, and makossa, a style he calls "Tchamassi." His lyrics often carry a deep moral or philosophical message and focus on themes of peace, love, and harmony, as well as addressing societal issues such as tribalism and corruption. In the 1990s, he pioneered the modernization of the Bend Skin rhythm, a folkloric fusion from the Cameroonian grasslands. Tala has continued to work in the industry for over five decades and has expressed a desire to support emerging Cameroonian artists.