Cameroonian musical phenomenon Salatiel released his second studio album, titled ‘Family Man,’ on Friday, July 12th. This 11-track album arrives several years after his debut, ‘Africa Represented.’
One thing you can rely on with Salatiel is his thoughtful approach to making music. Unlike some artists who may hastily release albums just for the sake of it, Salatiel’s professionalism and deliberate intent shine through. Despite his musical prowess, he opts for quality over quantity, taking his time with each project. This is why listening to his art is rarely disappointing. ‘FAMILY MAN’ lives up to expectations in that regard!
ALBUM SYNOPSIS:
The album portrays the reality of an African man’s family life through music. It tells the story of a man navigating through the challenges of COVID-19 and political crises in his country while ensuring the survival of his family. For him, family includes his biological relatives, colleagues, and employees.
COVER ART INTERPRETATION
Alain Ngann’s photography choices for the project reflect his artistic prowess. He approached Salatiel’s photoshoot with maturity, enhancing it with thoughtful outfit selections. The album’s cover art, while simple, conveys a deep portrayal of an African family setting. Credit goes to Dr. Napier Dessine for a job well done, keeping the design simple yet impactful.
TRACK 1 – FAMILY TABLE
The track introduces the album appropriately in Reggae fashion. The artist as a father is promising his family members that everyone had a place on the family table. It’s like a fun activity at the end of it, but that’s the artist having fun while making music from the heart and the soul.
TRACK 2 – FAMILY MAN
The artist embraces his role as a family man, fully aware of its responsibilities. Despite the challenges that come with it, he remains committed to shouldering this responsibility. Through his smash hit, he encourages men to work harder, believing that success will follow. Not everyone can commit to family responsibilities in the same way. This track is not just a song but also the title of the album.
TRACK 3 – TOUCHÉ FT MIMIE
Salatiel welcomes sensational Cameroonian singer Mimie in track-3 of this project. The audio and energy between him and Mimie makes you wanna ask for the video immediately. Salatiel’s Chemistry Matches almost every female artist he features. This isn’t different with MIMIE.
TRACK 4 – ON EST JEUNE [WE ARE YOUNG]
This is one of the my favorite tracks from the album already. The arrist prophesies into his future and prays to God for him to bless the works of his hands and everything he touches.
He expresses that life, money, marriage, are all enjoyed in youthfulness. “Money di sweet when we dey young. Success, marriage, all di sweet when we dey young”. Hence, he wants to work hard now that he’s young and enjoy to avoid suffering when he’s young. Can you relate ? He also reveals that he has a couple of “baby mamas” hence needs to put in real work and pray it pays.
TRACK 5 – FEELINGS
“This one is for my good Girl…” are you thinking what I’m thinking? If we go back to the singer’s first album, we can only recognize only one “Good Girl” in track-2 and that’s Rutshell Guillaume. Salatiel, recounts in this song that his ‘good girl’ should rather sit him down and tell him his wrongs rather than playing with his feelings. Did they date? Is their relationship going downhill? These are the thoughts running through my mind. I listen to music differently, so I don’t expect my suspicions to be 100% but that’s where my mind went when I listened to the track. Besides my inquisition, it’s a beautiful piece of music and I absolutely have it on repeat.
TRACK 6 – CLOSER FT CHARLOTTE DIPANDA
This track was released off the album featuring Charlotte Dipanda and has amassed convincing numbers acorss streaming platforms. What do you expect when two of the best Cameroonian singer and vocal coaches collaborate? Their Sawa vibe clicked effortlessly. It is a love tune, an express of affections for one’s partner. It’s an absolute hit from the album already.
TRACK 7 – SUCRÉ NOUVEAU
This is another song that had already been released before the official album release. The song talks about how love is always sweet when it’s new. The makossa track is undeniably a modern-day reality. Whenever ever love is new, it appears perfect until time begins to pass and new realities begin to surface. In a nutshell, enjoy it while it lasts and be ready to face the reality when it gets old.
TRACK 8 – ÇA VA ALLER [IT’S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT]
This is another scintillating track that doesn’t disappoint from this album. This is an encouraging tune for the hustlers out there… A reminder that things will fall into place for the ones who’re hustling to cater for family. It was already out just like the other aforementioned songs that were already released before now. It’s sung in French but it’s a motivational piece in summary.
TRACK 9 – HUSTLE
“Hustle make them no use you Crack joke” – Salatiel reminds brothers and sisters in this one that everyone should hustle so as to avoid being overlooked in the society. The world isn’t fair to the poor, hence to avoid embarrassing situations, hustling and making it will save you from a lot. “Head weh deny for learn book go carry Carter” so make sure you hustle.
TRACK 10 – ES-CE-QUE C’EST ÇA L’AMOUR FT EDDY [IS THIS LOVE?]
Another beautiful track by Salatiel featuring Eddy. It’s definitely going to be another hit without any shadow of doubt. The song is a man professing love for his woman. Produced by Salatiel, it gives us a nostalgic feeling of Mr. Leo’s “On va Gerer”.
TRACK 11 – FIRST LADY FT LOCKO
Salatiel invites impeccable Locko on track 11 “First Lady”. It’s a song dedicated to mothes. A Mother is considered the first lady for most, the number one. The Artists appreciate their mother(s) giving her the acknowledgement. They promise to give it all to her as a sign of appreciation for her sacrifices for them. Do you love your mom? This is the song to Play and sing along for her reverence. Produced by Salatiel, there’s no exaggerated beats or Instrumentation. A captivating guitar, saxophone and piano, with amazing vocal ranges, did the magic.
REMARK: Salatiel’s ability to speak more than two languages accurately, sets him at a very top level musically. How he switches vocal chords, between genres, and also switches instrumentals, just shows how deep he’s is in his cresting music. While “Africa Represented” had a host of international collaborations, Salatiel’s recent album only features Cameroonian artists and most especially artists of Francophone origin. While this might not be a big issue, it sends a message across and what he wanted to achieve with this album. After listening to the songs, the messages were personally relatable and enriching for a young person who wants to stand up for himself and his family.
