BIOGRAPHY

CHILDHOOD & ADOLESCENCE

Muna Mingole, was born in Paris, the youngest of a family of three children. At the age of 12, she will experience the first upheaval of her life: the separation of her parents. An event that will lead her to leave Canada, to live in Cameroon with her father and brother.

It was at this time that she discovered her father’s native island, the village of Malimba, located east of the Wouri River, on the Cameroonian coast, the watercourse which gave the country its name (when the first European explorers, in this case the Portuguese, entered the mouth of the Wouri, the abundance of giant shrimps they saw there, led them to speak of Rio dos Cameroes, which later became Cameroon).

It is therefore in this Central African country, and more particularly in the city of Douala, that Muna, which in her mother tongue means “child” to say Mingole’s little girl, will be educated in one of city, many high schools. Little Mingole stands out for her voice and love of the music scene. Indeed, each college or high school has its musical band and competitions are organized throughout the school year between the colleges and high schools of the city. Unbeknownst to her parents, she performs in live concerts, and it is naturally that Muna Mingole will be awarded successively in 1991 and 1992, the Prize for “Best performer in Douala” in one of the inter-collegiate musical competitions, as her talent is clear.

In 1993, with her DEC in administrative techniques in hand, she decided to return to Canada to find her mother, from whom she had been separated for eight years. A separation that will undoubtedly shape the personality of Muna Mingole.

She wants to make music, something her parents do not hear from the same ear. Like many parents – at the time – the Mingole parents did not see the practice of music as a profession. Her love for music is so rooted in her that it is synonymous with “joy of living” for Muna Mingole. She therefore rubs shoulders with musicians to live her passion. She will still enroll at the University of Montreal to take evening classes in communication and advertising. As if all that wasn’t enough, the budding artist also worked nearly 70 hours a week (in a manufacturing company in Dorval and a fast-food restaurant in the area).

TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD: MUSIC IS HER CHOICE

In June 1995, Muna Mingole leaves the family nest to marry a man from the same country as hers, Cameroon. From this union, her first son will be born a few years later. It was during the same period that she meets musician friends, all as passionate about music as she is. This will be the birth of the music band Sunroots.

The word “diversity” was not yet part of the spirit of the times, and the most avant-garde musical columnists referred to Sunroots as “the most multiracial band in Montreal”: the plurality of styles and musical sounds: African, Cuban, Caribbean rhythms… delights the various audiences who gradually open up to other black music, other than the African-American music. The group performs in various shows at the Nuits d’Afrique, Vues d’Afrique and Carifiesta festivals of Montreal, as well as at the Caribana in Toronto and on the stages of various dance clubs in the Quebec metropolis: Club Soda, Kola Note, Balattou…

A FRUITFUL QUEST FOR LANDMARKS; THE BIRTH OF THE BLUE FLAME

Singer Muna Mingole is also woman, a happy mother. In 1999 her marriage begins to falter and, in order not to sink, Muna draws her joy for living from the gaze of her son, who quickly becomes the center of her world and her primary source of inspiration. All these upheavals are not without their share of consequences: Muna Mingole asks herself questions about her real aspirations, both personal and artistic. For her, the solution lies in going back to where it all began.

Muna Mingole returns to Cameroon with her son, but rather than finding solutions in the metropolis of Douala, she chose to immerse herself in her father’s island Malimba. She learns about her roots, about the history of the people of Ilembe, about women’s songs and especially about dances as a vector of female body language. When she returns to Quebec the same year, Muna Mingole is ready to enter the musical arena with a clear objective: to conquer the Quebec and Canadian ‘World music’ scene.

She separated from her husband in 1999 and her artistic career takes off in 2000. She goes on the festival stages and other musical venues: “La grande fête africaine” organized by the Montreal Jazz Festival (in front of 200,000 people), the Jubilee of the Queen of England in Ottawa in 2002, L’Afrikadey in Calgary … to name just a few. Muna Mingole’s performances on stage have earned her many invitations to shows, because of the contagious energy she exudes, but also for her colorful outfits that delight the public. This is when the legend of the Blue Flame was born.

For almost five years, from 1999 to 2004, Muna Mingole will alternate between the shows and the studio where, in the most total discretion, she will record an album. Dipita (Hope in her mother tongue) was released in 2004. A nice surprise for the public, who then discovered, like the artist that she is, an album reflecting all her musical influences: makossa, bikutsi, Mandinka music, but also ballads… in short, a cocktail of songs with various themes: love, pain, hope, solidarity. One would be tempted to say themes from the life of Muna Mingole.

RESILIENT WOMAN

Indeed, once the lanterns and other spotlights have disappeared, the “child” of Mingole goes through difficult times in his personal life. By dint of resilience, perseverance and courage, she lets nothing show.

Neither her award as “2004 Emerging Artist” at the Gala du Grand Prix du Patrimoine d’Expression du Québec, nor her nomination in the category “Best Sound Recording – World Music” at the 2005 Canadian Urban Music Gala, or even her nomination the same

year at the 2006 Canadian Independent Music Gala of Canada in the category “Favorite Artist – World Music” would fill the disappointments and other torments she experiences when the curtains have fallen.

She then launched into entrepreneurship, opening a beauty salon on the south shore of Montreal: Salon Black Beauty Coiffure & Cosmétiques. With success, the entrepreneur takes over the artist. It was also at this time that the Quebec music industry – as in the rest of the world – underwent changes that would forever change this art.

The dematerialization of music makes record companies cautious. This has the consequence of seeing fewer and fewer labels taking risks. Everyone “plays it safe” and the first to pay the price are young artists like Muna Mingole, despite the talent that everyone recognizes in her.

She is faced with a difficult choice. She chooses to prioritize the education of her children – indeed, she will be a mother for the second time in 2008 – and to make her business prosper.

In recent years, despite her desire to record a new album, she will not have the opportunity. Her life will be disrupted by many misfortunes: three successive unsuccessful pregnancies, a fire that decimates her hairdressing salon, etc… However, she remains hopeful and finally in 2015, Muna is a mother for the 3rd time. This moment of joy will be short-lived. Two years later, in 2017, Muna Mingole lost her father – to whom she was very close. A drama that will be followed by a difficult separation from her second spouse

Full of strength, it is in the eyes of her children that the artist will draw the energy that will allow her to “take her head out of the water”. Now all of that is behind her. Muna Mingole is preparing her return to the music scene, more mature, stronger, but above all “still as enthusiast to give happiness to people, to my audience” she says!

Therefore, 2022 is that of the comeback of the Blue Flame!