Interviewed at her home in Loveland by Sandra Grady
8 October 2011

Frida Ngu was born in Bamenda village in Cameroon, where her only musical training was to sing in her secondary school choir. After she finished school there, she moved to the US and completed a Bachelors degree in Marketing and a Masters in Human Services Management from Franklin University. She met her husband, also a native of Cameroon, in Columbus, and they eventually married and are raising four children together, first in the Columbus area and later in Loveland.

For most of her adult life she did not sing, but she wanted to support a philanthropic program her father had begun in her village, so she went to a recording studio to record a message encouraging good stewardship of one’s home village since it is where a person begins and ends. While working in the recording studio, she and the producer turned the message into a song. The producer convinced her to keep writing and singing. As a result, she released a CD called The Anniversary Song-Just a Little Bit Better in 2010 with the fundraising song included. In 2011, she released a single, Celebrate your life oh la la. She is working on a second CD to be released in Spring 2012. She describes her style as hip hop mixed with African rhythm, something she calls “hipcana.”

After its release, Frida toured Cameroon and the US, performing at conventions and festivals. The CD also has gained a following on the Internet from people living in Africa, the US, and Europe. She hopes to tour more extensively for her next CD release. Frida often writes her songs from her dreams, waking up and writing down lyrics in French and English and, occasionally, in her first language of Bamok. Then she puts the words to rhythm and music in the studio with the producer.

Frida returns to Cameroon every year, but feels equally at home in Ohio.