On 22 October 2025, Kristo Numpuby released Brassens en Afrique volume 2, a record built from the idea of rewriting Georges Brassens through assiko, the rhythm from southern Cameroon that has shaped Numpuby’s music for years. Numpuby has said the project began in 2011, when the idea of putting Brassens into Bassa, his mother tongue, came to him on the RER D in Paris. The album grows out of that decision: not a straight return to a classic French songbook, but Brassens rewritten through Numpuby’s own language and musical background.

Brassens, one of the central figures in French chanson, first released “L’Orage” in 1960. It is a love song set in a storm, where bad weather becomes the chance event that brings two people together.

Born in Paris in 1964 and raised in Eséka, Cameroon, Numpuby learned guitar in Douala before returning to Paris, where he studied communication and spent several years working in advertising. He has also pointed to a meeting with Stevie Wonder in Ghana as a decisive moment, saying it pushed him to start recording his own songs. Numpuby describes his music as moving between assiko and African-American folk music, played on acoustic instruments.

His discography stretches back to Assiko City in 1997, followed by An Sol Me in 2001, Brassens en Afrique in 2007 and Assiko Land in 2014. Brassens en Afrique volume 2 was released on 2 December 2025 via Lon Yes.

Listen to “L’Orage” following THIS LINK, and get your copy of the album HERE