Ambasse bey or ambas-i-bay is a style of folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 music

Music of Cameroon

The best-known Music of the Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and...

 and dance

Dance in Cameroon

Dance in Cameroon is an integral part of the tradition, religion, and socialising of the country's people. Cameroon has more than 200 traditional dances, each associated with a different event or situation. Colonial authorities and Christian missionaries discouraged native dances as threats to...

 from Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. The music is based on commonly available instruments, especially guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, with percussion provided by sticks and bottles. The music is faster-paced than assiko

Assiko

The Assiko is a popular dance from the South of Cameroon.Originally based in the Bassa country, this rhythmed dance takes its name from two words: ISI, changed into ASSI, which means earth or ground; and KOO meaning foot....

, an older form of Cameroonian popular folk music.

Ambasse bey originated among the Yabassi

Yabassi

Yabassi is a town and commune in western Cameroon, and capital of the Nkam department. Its population in 2001 was estimated at 12,000. The main dialect spoken is the Bassa Yabassi. However, there are also other dialects originating in the Nkam which are spoken....

 ethnic group and grew popular in Douala

Douala

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...

 after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the style evolved in the Cameroonian Littoral

Littoral Province (Cameroon)

The Littoral Region is a region of Cameroon. Its capital is Douala. , its population was 2,202,340.-2008 Presidential Decree Abolishes Provinces:...

. In the mid-1960s, Eboa Lotin performed a style of ambasse bey on harmonica and guitar that was the earliest form of makossa

Makossa

Makossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa, which means " dance" in Duala, originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences...

, a style that quickly came to overshadow its predecessor and become Cameroon's most popular form of indigenous music. Ambasse bey was revived to an extent by Cameroonian singer Sallé John.