Born in 1967 in the village of Minta in East Cameroon, Bona grew up in a ho… Read Full Bio ↴Born in 1967 in the village of Minta in East Cameroon, Bona grew up in a home filled with music. He began to perform in public at the age of five, singing in the village church with his mother and four sisters. His earliest instruments were wooden flutes and hand percussion. Eventually he constructed his own 12-string acoustic guitar. After moving to the bigger city of Douala, Richard began playing gigs at the age of 11 on a rented electric guitar. A major turning point in his life happened in 1980 when a Frenchman came to his town and established a jazz club in a local hotel. The club owner heard about the young local prodigy and hired him to assemble a band. "I didn't know anything about jazz," Richard says, "but the gig paid really well, so I took it." The hotel provided the instruments, so Richard would spend his entire day there, learning to play all of the instruments and teaching himself to read and write music.

In 1989, at age 22, Bona moved to Paris and soon began working with such leading French musicians as violinist Didier Lockwood and bassist Marc Ducret as well as such African stars as Manu Dibango and Salif Keita. During his seven years in Paris, Richard refined his writing skills while further immersing himself in the music of jazz greats like Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Ben Webster.

Since arriving in New York in 1995, bassist-vocalist-composer Richard Bona has been one of the most sought-after talents on the scene.

Invocation
Richard Bona Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

La balalo kina ma chen dèku
La biso kun yéléla diki

Lôngô natèna kwan
Nèni kourmo kourma
Bébango na matutu muléma
Néni kourmo kourma
Mbéi na matutu na né

Mbémba kourmo munja
Ba num mô jôngô muléma
Nèni kourmo kourma
Miango ma jéngu ma dangwa
Nèni kourmo kourma

Kourou njaka bo
Kourou koukou njaka bo

Na si wusa bè longè ésibè oa Mama
Muyawo na édèmo bé ndé mboa ngô

kourmo
Wé pôn ndé Kiñè
Lambo nèn nô péña péña
Dibongo la bana bodilo ésibè dikana
Lambo nèn nô péña péña
Pipi balu o nana

Mwititi bon bulu
Na wasé kuba lamp
Na na kusé bonam bôngô
Minbu mi timbi o tomba
O timbi sô wôlô soni wumsè wèngè
A kourmo
Ngol é me sèmè i ne ka
Walè iki é bè nsè bè na nsal è

La balalo kina ma chen dèku
La biso kun yéléla diki

Overall Meaning

The song Invocation by Richard Bona is a beautiful display of Afrobeat and African rhythms. The lyrics in this song speak of spiritual invocations, prayers, and blessings that are commonly found in the African culture. The first verse talks about the act of calling onto different deities and spiritual beings for blessings and protection. This is demonstrated through the use of phrases like 'La balalo kina ma chen dèku' which could be translated to mean, 'Omighty we ask for your blessings upon us'.

The second verse of the song is a mix of French and African languages, and it is used as a prayer for the blessings of the land and protection of the people. 'Nèni kourmo kourma' in the second verse, when translated, means 'May the blessings of the land and spirits be upon us'. The chorus, 'Kourou njaka bo, Kourou koukou njaka bo', is a call for a unifying energy that binds all African people together.

Line by Line Meaning

La balalo kina ma chen dèku
This world is full of chaos and confusion

La biso kun yéléla diki
We cry out loud for help

Lôngô natèna kwan
The universe is calling

Nèni kourmo kourma
And we must listen

Bébango na matutu muléma
The wise men have spoken

Néni kourmo kourma
And we must listen

Mbéi na matutu na né
But the fools remain deaf

Mbémba kourmo munja
Too stubborn to hear

Ba num mô jôngô muléma
Caught up in their own world

Nèni kourmo kourma
And we must listen

Miango ma jéngu ma dangwa
We must come together and unite