They played weddings, funerals and village feasts and functions. For village kids there were only two ways out - music and soccer. But I was really bad at soccer. Nobody wanted him on their team. He'd sit on the bench until at the end of the match he might get token playing time because people needed music for important ceremonies and Richard was the best.
Music has an essential social role in West African village life.
It is the first recording under his own name. Now 31, he's been singing since he was a child. His mother was a singer. He sings in several Cameroonais dialects, including his native Douala, and in French and English. His voice is sweet, his songs haunting, the style southern mid-Atlantic.