Cameroonian Makossa legend Petite Pays deserves an honorary Nigerian citizenship. And while he’s at it, a national honor won’t be a bad idea too. Adolphe Claude ndalaah Moundi aka Petit Pays is one of the only French African artists that have enraptured Nigerians as much, the other being Awilo Longomba. By the year 2000 – 2006, petite pay rage all over the country when he released the song “Kalaba People“. It even mattered less to Nigerians that they neither spoke French nor Duala that the man sang in; once the beat came on, Nigerians automatically jumped up, stretched out their arms, bent their knees and wiggled away. It didn’t hurt either that the man himself had a deep rooted love for Nigeria. He said in later interviews that he was inspired by the music of Fela. For a french artist, he has held concerts in Nigeria in the past. And that’s not all, he, in turn, inspired a new crop of Nigerian entertainers who made several spoofs of his songs and thus began their own careers. For the first few years of the new millennium, Petit Pays and Awilo Longomba ruled the Nigerian airwaves like no one else; and when their era passed for a more Naija-centric sound, Nigerians all were grateful for the memories. Sure, other French artists like Fally Ipupa, came later on, they did not match the frenzy of Petit Pay and Awilo. That’s how great Petit Pays was. Watch his massive hit song that was highly felt in Nigeria below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfbTPavwBoM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhoMvdivVqo
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