cotton cord. Played in this way, the electric guitar sounded similar to the balafon. The music itself, then, was only slightly altered, while the image and outside perception of bikutsi music was changed enormously. Other bands during this time, such as Les Vétérans, were also popular. International acclaim began in 1987 with the formation of Les Têtes Brûlées by Jean Marie Ahanda. The late guitarist of Les Têtes Brulées, Zanzibar, invented the trick of damping the strings of his guitar with a strip of foam rubber to produce the music's characteristic balafon-like thunk. (The balafon is a marimba-like instrument that is widely used in African folk music.) More modern performers include Jimmy Mvondo Mvelé and Mbarga Soukous. Present-day bikutsi as performed by artists like Lady Ponce, K-Tino, Racine Sagath and Natascha Bizo is sometimes regarded as controversial. It has been criticised for the perceived sexual content of its lyrics and dancing style. In this respect bikutsi resembles mapouka from Côte d'Ivoire, which is also considered indecent by many Africans. The main difference is that present day bikutsi is still often performed by female artists who use it as a means of self-expression in a traditionally male-dominated society. Thus a singer like K-Tino, self-styled femme du peuple (woman of the people) sees herself as having an important part to play in the emancipation and liberation of the women of Cameroon. Among the current crop of artists are Patou Bass and Ovasho Bens, the promoter of a dance and philosophy called "zig zag". His first album is composed not only of Cameroonian traditional rhythms but also West Indian zouk and Jamaican-style reggae. Bikutsi has influenced Western musicians such as Paul Simon on his 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints. References Cameroonian styles of music African popular music Dance music genres