# Manu Dibango — Soul Makossa

Manu Dibango’s Soul Makossa (1972) appears on 2 of our lists — Afrobeat and The Waxonia Desk — One Subject, highest at No. 5 in Afrobeat. Every verdict, in full.

- **Released:** 1972
- **Label:** Fiesta
- **On:** Afrobeat and The Waxonia Desk — One Subject
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Artist:** [Manu Dibango](https://waxonia.com/artist/manu-dibango/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/manu-dibango--soul-makossa/

## What 2 lists say

### No. 5 in [Afrobeat](https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/)

A Cameroonian B-side that a New York DJ found in a Brooklyn record shop and turned into a disco hit. The first African record to cross over on a dancefloor rather than in a concert hall.

### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — One Subject](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/)

A Cameroonian B-side that a New York DJ turned into a disco hit. The clearest single case for the argument this list is making: the route mattered more than the origin.

## Analysis

9 sections, the first drop of 5 at 0:17, 6% of the way in.

- **Tempo:** 117.5 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 3.7 dB — compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- **Length:** 4:26

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums
- `0:22` B · **peak** (bar 11), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, other
- `0:46` B · **peak** (bar 23), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, other
- `1:40` C · **breakdown** (bar 49), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, other
- `2:04` B · **peak** (bar 61), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, other
- `3:10` C · **peak** (bar 93), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `3:44` D · **steady** (bar 110), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, other
- `3:56` E · **steady** (bar 116), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `4:15` A · **outro** (bar 125), instrumental — the closing fall

**Drops** at 0:17 (bar 9), 1:36 (bar 47), 2:00 (bar 59), 3:18 (bar 97), 3:43 (bar 109). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Manu%20Dibango%20Soul%20Makossa) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PblSmVR7hCk)

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