| C'est la Vie | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Henri Dikongué |
| Cover: | C'est la Vie (Henri Dikongué album).jpg |
| Released: | 1997 |
| Label: | Tinder[1] |
| Producer: | Gilles Fruchaux |
| Prev Title: | Wa (You) |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | Mot'a Babe |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
C'est la Vie is an album by the Cameroonian musician Henri Dikongué.[2] [3] It was released in 1997.[4]
The album was dedicated to Fela Kuti and Robert Mitchum.[2] It was a success on European world music charts, and sold more than 9,000 copies in its first month of release.[5] Dikongué promoted it by touring North America.[6]
The album was produced by Gilles Fruchaux. The title track was sung in French; Dikongué wrote all of the album's songs, and also played classical guitar.[4] [7] [8] Dikongué was influenced by the sound of bossa nova.[9]
JazzTimes noted that "Dikongue's musical turf isn’t the dance-driven world of intensely rhythmic West African styles, but a softer melange, grounded in elements of Brazilian influences and a general emphasis on acoustic instruments."[10] Robert Christgau wrote that Dikongué is "what happens when Afropop becomes world music—when it targets broad-minded European connoisseurs rather than rhythm-schooled African sophisticates." The Indianapolis Star opined that Dikongué "has a most gorgeous, lilting folk sound."[11]
The Washington Post stated that "Dikongue's distinctive style melds classical guitar, Latin-jazz balladry and French chansons."[12] The Orange County Register praised Dikongué's "sweetly suave style," writing that he "crafts low-key, folk- and jazz-infused Afro-pop."[13]
AllMusic wrote: "Offering an interesting alternative to zouk and makossa, Cameroon's Henri Dikongue favors an introspective, sensitive and ballad-heavy approach on C'est la Vie."