For purposes of this post, the focus will be on Cameroon as I have noticed that Cameroonians have amazing gospel singers who are not shining as bright as gospel singers from other countries like Nigeria.
If you asked my opinion as to whether Cameroonians are still reluctant to accept the hard work their gospel artists are constantly putting into their art, I will quickly say YES!
Surprisingly, with popular and growing record labels like Niki Heat Entertainment, Constellation Label, Ablaze Music, Eagle’s Wings to name a few that are harboring amazingly talented gospel ministers and singers, with the aim to step up the gospel sector, coupled with a plethora of other independent artists holding it down, whose contributions can’t be minimized, it’s ludicrously humiliating that a country with an approximated population of 25 million people and no fixed number of artists can provide a viral hit song for almost a decade. Who’s fault is it? The artists or the fans? You might be thinking it is the artists, but I will say it is the fans because they make an artists as in they can make their song go viral.
It’s incapacitating and unexplainable as to how the Nigerian culture has continually devoured the Cameroonian culture, despite the fact that Cameroon has over 200 popular tribes and ethnic groups all culturally diverse, with most of these artists emanating from these tribes. However, the one would can make that shift, does not seem to have arrived yet.
From time to time, the artists have always been the ones to bear the blame, despite their relentless efforts to export their culture and also make ends meet. But in reality, the country’s inhabitants and fans of music need to start taking responsibility for their reluctance to accept the efforts put in by these artists. These efforts are either unconsciously or consciously minimized and swallowed by the desire to consume foreign content.
The generation of artists, who would hop into the booth (Studio) and vomit hit songs for our listening pleasure are the older ones, who seem to be the ones who will still rejuvenate the gospel sector. (which wouldn’t be a bad idea at all), but we equally need the newbies and these promising ones to start being encouraged and listened to, without their confidence being overlooked. Artists like Elizabeth Tekeh are great examples of what was… Prosper Menko the Minister , Indira Baboke , Maureen Forbah, AkuBai, Erna, @G4, LesLinè, Vershiy, EGBE, Pandita Njoh, EmmaGospel @Karine Atem, etc, are all a promise of what will be though many of the aforementioned have done amazingly great over the years.
In a digital era, it will suffice you to know that, only a single artist among many, have been able to hit 100,000 views or more on Youtube, with the highest managed by any artist from the Anglophone region. Only Akubai has been able to manage those numbers and the time she has taken to do so is amazing. What could be her strength? Marketing, style, trends, or what would you rather suggest? Unsurprisingly, her marketing has been topnotch and she’s been strictly Cameroonian, fusing both the anglophone and Francophone cultures, a sign that Cameroonians would consume theirs if only they could pay little attention.
On the other hand, Indira has been hitting millions on streaming platforms, but she’s just one of the exceptions anyway and from the French part too. The fact doesn’t change that most Cameroonian artists are not streamed by most Cameroonians, and given the work they’ve put in over the years, it’s fair to say that they are just being snubbed and ignored by their own, who substitute them for foreign content intentionally.
Looking at the flyer below, there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn’t be an international hit from Cameroon. The biggest persons who could be forced to wake up, to enable some of these artists to get the recognition they deserve are churches.
Churches need to encourage their artists to minister gospel songs from Cameroon, during crusades and other events, they should pay attention to playing Cameroonian artists for hours to create awareness and make church members get used to it, without which they’ll always keep playing Nigerian, ministering Nigerian and wanting to sound as such.
Imagine an artist after releasing their song, still goes for a gospel event and will still be expected to minister a popular Nigerian or foreign song to stir the crowd… The point is, pastors can do a lot to change this coz most of them are that influential and will unarguably influence their followers to love the art of these various artists.
We know that distribution channels and other promotional platforms got their work to do, but a collective effort will reduce the burden and also help some of these artists to garner a huge following, and perhaps, make a living from their craft while impacting!
One reality we must accept is that gospel music stands the chance to be more financially productive if the right steps are taken, especially as it has no age limitation unlike the secular sector, which is sometimes very limited to a particular demography. For a few crusades I’ve seen and attended, I’m very much convinced that though fans ignore or are reluctant to accept the works of these artists, they’ll go out of their way if they’re given the reason to. So who’ll give the reason?
Special acknowledgments to some gospel platforms who as doing all with and beyond their capacities to showcase Cameroonian gospel… Until we get to a level that gospel music can even be played in snack bars, then we’ll say Cameroon has come that far.
