Looking at artists like Diamond Platnumz and Sarkodie who are African heavyweights who despite feeling the Nigerian superiority, still chose to break into Nigeria through five star collabo’s which earned them fans in Nigeria as well. Where are they now? They have gone on to become African icons and should we say their country men and fans supported them to the top?
Now what happened with an artist like Stanley Enow who has equally collaborated with top African stars? Why is Stanley not equally as known as in Nigeria and other parts of Africa like Sarkodie despite all his efforts and top collabo’s? I believe his songs were being played in Nigeria when he collaborated with artists like Davido and Mr. Eazi. It might not have lasted long but there were no follow-ups.
When Stanley made a breakthrough in Nigeria, there was very little support for him from home. Maybe because of the tension and rivalry between himself and some of the home artists.
Co-existence is the modern day competition. Gone are those days when a country has to call for the banning of foreign music when its citizens can access those foreign songs on streaming platforms. The idea should be to pave the way for the younger and upcoming generation and rather not incite hate and xenophobic ideas. Remember when Sotuh Africa was facing their xenophobic moments a few years ago? There were many Cameroonians who we appalled by it.
So why do we think it’s OK to subtly implement such acts even if it’s limited to music?
Building BRIDGES and not walls would be the ideal strategy to move forward to build the Cameroonian music and entertainment industry. By the way, Cameroon can’t be comparing on the international stage with one artist.
The question we should be asking ourselves is why collabos with Nigerians work(ed) for other foreign artists in Nigeria but didn’t work for Cameroonian artists in terms of pushing their music to even much higher heights? A song released in 2019 by Yemi Alade and Charlotte Dipanda was a continental hit, but was there any follow up by a Cameroonian artist to secure that territory?
My thoughts are simple, instead of propagating hate and hate speech, it is more preferable to up our mentality and soar higher by doing more collaborative work with other people who have mastered the art of successfully breaking through the African and international market and who we can also learn from. Let us know what you think.
