Tony Nobody and the tragedy of the Cameroonian urban music movement
The 2012 Mboa Hiphop Awards have died but haven”t gone like T.I.”s 2009 hit. Ripples still continue to be felt from its chaotic organisation. Recently, some label execs have gone on social media to take hard swipes at event organiser, Tony Nobody calling him names and labeling him a megalomaniac. Rather than add to the insults or come to Tony”s defense, we should rather wonder whether the handicapped-nature of the Mboa Hiphop Awards isn”t symptomatic of the entire Cameroonian urban movement. In Cameroon, urban music is first of all a fringe genre that suffers from prejudice and is mainly promoted by youths, who are synonymous with limited resources. In an open letter reacting to the criticism that followed the 2012 event, Tony himself pointed to this fact as he blamed the situation on sponsors pulling out. So when lack of sponsorship is added to low popularity and visibility, what can we expect but chaos despite the noblest of intentions. Tony Nobody surely has his faults, we all do, but he and his attempts should not be vilified disproportionately. If the Mboa HipHop Awards do not shine as radiantly as we wish it is not necessarily because of Tony. It is just because of the context in which our urban music movement finds itself. So rather pray than for humble endeavours like Tony”s to fail, we should pray they succeed because there are a reflection of the
collective reality called our urban music movement. And did I add that it is still in its formative years?
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