Born in Douala, Sam Mbende was influenced by his uncle Richard Epee Mbende, nicknamed “Golden Sword”, one of the pioneering creators of makossa. In 1981, he moved to Brussels and then attended classes at Berkley School in the United States specializing in the arrangement of musical harmonies. Back in Belgium, he obtained a law degree, a philosophy degree and then a special license in copyright and music publishing. Soon after director of two audiovisual and cinematographic music societies in Brussels and the Grand Duchée of Luxembourg, he also pursued his musical career by training from 1983 to 1987 with Guy Nsanguè and Etienne Mbappè, the group Sky Doves which released three albums.

His solo career started with the 1986 release of the album Nobra, followed a year later by Mota jango (bad hunter). He had multiple featurings with Mercy Capela in 1988 and Alexia Waku in 1990, winning the RFI award for “Deep in my soul.” Two years later, he released Mona Lisa, with Tatiana, which achieved success in Europe.

Sam Mbende served as Art Director and Executive Producer for the song “Etam”, of the group Macase. In 1999, he released the album “Oh mama” containing the hit song “Rosita”. In 2012, he released “Adou”, the album of the group Marrakass and his 2013 album “Glamour”, featuring hit songs “Bella Donna”, “Gloria”, “Josee Maria” and “Nina”. He is currently the Cameroon Music Corporation (CMC) Board of Directors President and the President of PACSA.

Sam Mbende
Sam Mbende
SONGWRITER, CAMEROON
PACSA REP.