About Me
Born in New Bell, Douala, Cameroon, the virtuoso singer-guitarist Nya Soleil grew up with music from an early age on. At six, he made his first guitar out of bamboo and quickly gained a reputation through stage appearances at school balls and popular neighbourhood festivities. At 15, he was hired by the Mount Fébé Palace orchestra in Yaoundé lead by Francis Kingué, where he played a repertoire of jazz, bossa, passo doble, salsa, funk and traditional music from Cameroon.
At 18, Nya left on a long trip of musical experiences throughout Western Africa, travelling with his guitar as his only piece of luggage. Visiting Nigeria, Bénin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina-Faso before arriving in Paris, he met and played with many musicians, learning various musical forms and local rhythms.
Creating a new base in Paris in 1987, Nya Soleil produced his first album «Il y a un soleil quelque part» including hits such as « La vie est un roman » and « Yaoundé by Night ». In recognition of the cultural and artistic values of his works, Nya Soleil became a UNESCO representative for Cameroon alongside Manu Dibango and Francis Bebey.
In 1990, his second album, «Africa Fête» (Sonodisc), hit the charts with the titles « Que la paix rayonne » and «Africa Reggae ». The album’s success led to tours in Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion. He also participated in the making of several albums with composers from the Antilles, Brazil, Africa, France and Jamaica as lead guitarist and in 1997, accompanied the tours of Kanda Bongoman and Tshala Muana as lead guitarist throughout Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, including the All African Music Awards.
Back in Paris in 1994, he created the association «Soleil Pour Tous» to produce concerts promoting African cultural identity and values and organize humanitarian events, all of which have made him well known and respected on the Paris scene.
In 1999, he produced the only concert dedicated to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, at the Divan du Monde in Paris. Other concerts he has produced include: Concert Mumia Abu Jamal : concert pour la justice et contre la peine de mort (1999), L’Afrique célèbre l'abolition de l'esclavage (1998), Un Noël pour les enfants réfugiés du Rwanda (1998), Concert pour la paix au Congo (1997), Concert des Sans Papiers (1996) and in November 2004, Solidarité Haïti-Gonaïves, organized in collaboration with Red Cross France to raise funds for the victims of hurricane Jeanne in Haiti.
