PHOTO: Nigerian artists Davido (l) and Wiz Kid (r). Photo credit: videomonde.com
The so much discussed issue of why every club or household in Yaoundé, Douala, Buea, Limbe or Kumba (all in Cameroon) and other countries not just in Africa, are either watching Nollywood Movies or playing West African high life (especially Nigerian) sounds that are now being defined as “AfroBeat” has been going on for quite some time.
A good number of articles on this subject have been written including some of the reasons why Nigerian Music is soaring with artists such as Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, Davido, Wizkid and among others collaborating with international artists, and the reason why Cameroonian, and to an extent – East and Central African Music is not reaching such heights.
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Let’s see and closely scrutinize some of those reasons why every club, radio station and TV music show is playing songs like “Nowo”, “Fall On You”, “Science Student” and “BAD” among others at the expense of our; “Talla”, “Jusqu’à La Gare”, “Bon Bon” and “Allez Dire”.
Paying homage to the Pioneers or “Standing on the shoulders of giants” is phrase which very few Cameroonian artists understand or apply meanwhile it’s something which Nigerian artists have executed to such fine detail that we place them on the same wavelenght/pedestal as their mentors.
The one thing that is common about music coming from West Africa especially Nigeria is that it is heavily influenced by the 70s Afrobeat, a sound that was created and defined by the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The new generation of West African artists has not invented any new beat. Instead, they picked the Afrobeat, fused it with sounds of hip hop, dancehall to come up with a beat that is still rich yet trendy renaming it – Afrobeats.
The only effort made to fuse Cameroonian older music with new beats is from Tala A. Marie & Boy Tag’s sampling of ‘BendSkin‘ produced in 1991.
An example to demonstrate the importance of Paying Homage (Standing on the shoulders of giants) in our industry is Boy Tag where he features, Talla Andre Marie, the 67 year old “Bendskin’ Legend from Bandjoun in the song(“Talla”) which contains samples of the 1992 hit “Bend Skin” by Tala A. Marie. Truth be told, the Song Video released the 1st Feb 2018 on YouTube made it to Number 3 on the Trace Urban Top 10 HipHop Charts. Click Here to Watch “Talla” Video
The gap and lack of conversation between the older and new generation of artists in Cameroon is one of the things that are ailing our music which lacks authenticity or adefined Cameroonian Sound.
Cultural Influences & Authenticity is also a very great game changer. In addition to the Nigerians, Ghana and South Africa were all colonized by the British and in SA’s case, by the Dutch soon after, just like Kenya and most African countries.
Despite this, alot of West African countries like Nigeria were still able to hold on to most of their cultural traditions during and after colonization. This can be seen in their language (Xhosa, Zulu, Pidgin, Woloof, Yoruba etc) which is used in their daily lives and is incorporated in their music, their mode of dressing as well their reverence to their ancestors and most of their traditional African beliefs (A good illustration of this is in the lyrics to the hit song Khona by the South African duo of Mafikizolo and Uhuru).
Nigerians love their Agbadas, the Ghanaians their Kente and the South African’s have the Geometric shape patterns and colorful costume designs. What about Cameroon? Why this is important is because every artist is competing with billions of others on every level from their lyrics to their sound and in this YouTube age, their music video.
The music package that an artist gives has to be complete and authentic. The music makers in Nigeria & West Africa just tapped into the elements that are in their everyday lives, the cultural influences blending African Languages with traditional and modern beats in a way that makes them stand out and have a distinct sound.
Nigeria does not only have a slew of great music talents but also a very vibrant urban music scene. In other words, songs by Nigerian artists enjoy so much rotation on radio and television stations across the continent and even beyond which makes it fair to say music has become a cultural export for the coolest and most influential West African nation.
Auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers said music sales in Nigeria for 2015 alone was $56 million which predicted the industry’s revenue to shoot up to 88 million dollars by the year 2018.
Wizkid, one of Nigeria’s popular artists soared to the top of the US singles chart in May this year thanks to his collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake on the song One Dance. The remix of his 2015 song ‘Ojuelegba’ which featured Drake was listed by Billboard as one of its “Must Hear” Music podcast. Can you imagine?
This brings us to the aspect of International Focus; Most Cameroonian Artists usually have a myopic view of who they are producing their music for. But if you must know, in this internet age your song has the potential of being listened to (or watched) somewhere in New Jersey, London, Paris and not just in your home town or country.
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Nigerians and South African’s realized this a while back and learned which ingredients to use (the ones detailed in this article) to make their music and videos stand out globally.
Did you know the earnings from Nigeria’s music industry have come from telecom firms, brand endorsements as well as music downloads among others?
In spite of the success of Nigerian music, the industry at large still needs a few things to spur its growth to the next level and as a country aspiring to go attain highest heights; there is so much we can learn from this.
In the words of Timi Dakolo, who burst onto the Nigerian music scene through a television music reality show; “I believe solely, like this is my own belief that if we had structure, we would make more money than what we have now”
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He continues, “We think we’re making money but if we have more structure and a more organized system, everybody knows where money is going to, everybody knows how much you make for this and that and that but we’re just here…It can get better, we’re over a hundred and fifty million people; hundred and fifty million people consume music in one form or the other,” Timi added.
Timi’s words are proof that the lack of structures means works by musicians often go unprotected – something which Asa, one of Nigeria’s most successful international acts thinks can be avoided if the government showed more interest in the music business.
Asa – The Nigerian “Jailer” hit maker whose music tends to shy away from the popular “Afrobeat” genre and accommodates more folk sounds strongly believes protecting intellectual properties of musicians will also go a long way to provide a win-win situation for both the government and musicians.
“Once the government understands that they can make money; you know they can generate revenues from this… I think once they understand the intricacies of the music business, I think they would help protect our art,” she said.
The #RippedJeansNationMovement, and enterprise based in Cameroon whose mission is to improve urban cultural diversity, managing of talents, and capacity building, improving life in the urban and rural milieu, has often advocated for protection of intellectual works not only from artists by others related to the industry especially at this digital age in which the world is more of a “Global Village”.
If Artists can pay taxes too, those taxes would help with building roads, creating electricity and the necessary infrastructure which is so much needed in the industry. It’s not only about music, but development as a whole. You know you need to establish a collective society so that when radios (stations) play the songs, they pay you too. As such, when brands use your music for their products, they too can pay and you the artist can actually see that goes to your pocket, all helping build a good country, as charity they say begins at home.
The bad blood between Cameroonian Artists and DJs because they are not being patriotic should not exist at all. It’s very simple, make good music and the rest will follow.
Afrobeats might be a passing cloud, maybe just maybe it’s time our artists took the Classic, “Old-timer” hits and gave it new life that the young generation can groove to in clubs or nod their heads to on all FMs without forgetting to put into practice any little lessons you might grad from reading this article.
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