TIMELINE AND EVALUATION OF THE CAMEROON URBAN MUSIC INDUSTRY IN 2023

Creatively, the Cameroon music industry made remarkable strides in 2023. 

The Digital promotion space, the streaming numbers of Cameroonian songs spiked exponentially. However, Cameroon is still witnessing underdevelopment or stagnation in the internal music structure; publishing, distribution and royalties, which makes it unconducive for music talent to subsist.

The creative side; singers, songwriters and producers did an exceptional job. Phillbill, KRYS M and Witty minstrel art continued to create music that carry Cameroon’s inherent cultural imprint; Assiko, Ben-skin and Njang respectively. 

Cameroon still has unexploited traditional music, that can be transformed into mainstream commercial music. 

In 2023, the following breathtaking albums/EPs were released; Jovi – 2035, ASKIA – “Love & Life”, Libianca – “Walk Away”, Elisha K – Days of Elisha (Epistle 1), PHIDO – “Sorry Not This”, Cysoul – Redemption, MIMIE – Soundsation, Maxi Manorh – Celebration, Mic Monsta Official & Mihney – New Era, Magasco – Infinity, Ulanda – Making of Mama Makossa, TiTi Dama – Flashback

The year 2023 started blisteringly and witnessed slow pace in April and May, as few projects were released. June has an avalanche of music releases. 

 The music industry also saw an open floodgate of artists traveling abroad for tours and performing on big stages. 

Some revelations of the year were Elisha K, BelYv , Sabrina Love and Fadil Le Sorcier.

Libianca won Best New International Act and Askia won Best Female Rap Act at AFRIMMA; the first time for a Cameroonian artist. 

Ko-c made remarkable success, as he toured in 28 states in the US and performed at Fally Ipupa’s 40,000 capacity sold-out concert in Paris. 

JANUARY

Krys M started her excellent run in January with “Qui croira vera” produced by Teddy Beatz. The music video has garnered 22,514,000 YouTube views.

Libianca dropped the video of her global chart-topping hit song “People” (238 million views), becoming the most viewed video by a Cameroonian artist.

Mimie started the year on a high gear, with the video of her breathtaking tune “Wolowos”, produced by Oken. 

Mbole artist Gifto is also made an impressive debut with “Le car qui part”. The video was amassed 3.3 million views. 

Blanche Bailly released the video of her song “Banga” featuring Ridimz. 

Asaba Official released “Lighter” EP in 2022 and dropped the video of her collaboration with Kameni titled “One Love”. 

 Krys M won Best Female Artist at Canal D’Or 2023 and Artist of the Year at Balafon Music Awards 2023.

FEBRUARY

In February 2023, KO-C uncloaked the video of his stellar hit “Deux Oeufs Spaghetti” (10 million YouTube views) . 

Cysoul also made a remarkable start of the year with “Doucement” featuring Pit Bacardi. 

LYDOL dropped the video of “Ndolo Bobe”, a collaboration with Cysoul. 

Jovi also dropped the video of his song titled “J’achete”. 

Magasco dropped the collaboration video with Mimie “Regret”. 

RAIZY dropped his highly-awaited video “Bread”.

Slimsingah dropped “No delay”. He is a promising artist to watch out for.  

MARCH 

In March, Blanche Bailly released the video of “OMG” , a collaboration with Nigerian artist Buju.

Gasha made a comeback with the video of her song titled “Spirit” . 

Locko dropped “Don’t Go” music video, licensed under Sony Music. The video amassed 3.3 million views. 

Phillbill dropped the video of “Bikossa” featuring Ego & Prido , Styfler

CLEO GRAE dropped “Jongleur” featuring AJ BAHBOY

APRIL 

Aloch237 released his first viral song titled “Kimale” . The video was nominated at the 2023 Canal D’Or Awards. 

Loic Sumfor released the video of his song “Severally” featuring Awu Acapero. 

Asaba and Mr Leo beautified the month with the release of their visually-pleasing video “Charger”. 

MAY

Rinyu came through with a project with Tenor dubbed “Dem nova bonam”. 

Asaba released “Amour” , directed by Lady Director.

Salatiel released “Ca Va Aller” , a song of hope and resilience.  

Maahlox released “Ce n’est plus le Quartier”. 

“Love and Affection” was another great video by Cameroonian artist Ful. 

JUNE 

Elisha K released the video of his song “Do not Disturb” featuring Mic Monsta.

Witty Minstrel blended Njang and Amapiano elements in a unique tune titled “Family”. 

Blanche Bailly made a great impact with her song “Dieudonne”, despite the criticism she was subjected to. The video has stunningly amassed 5 million YouTube views.  

Tenor dropped the video of “Conseil Gratuit”. 

Mr Leo released the video of his song “Ayele” . This song has the potential of becoming an international hit but dismally it trails at 84K YouTube views, after 6 months. 

In June, Libianca released the video of her follow-up single “Jah”. It is apparent that Libianca raised the bar unbelievably high with “People”.

Sabrina released “On the low” video. 

JULY

Vanister Officiel became a popular music sensation during the World Cup in Qatar. He released the video of “Ma vie sera top” on July 1st. The video was done well, with 3.5 million views.  

Stanley Enow was dominant in July, following the release of his song “Take ova” 

Kameni redefined her sound to magnet internationally appeal. She dropped the video of “Call me” directed by Nkeng Stephens. 

Overall, Tzy Panchak had a dismal year after losing his brother. He however released “For Long” featuring Vancy in July. Tzy earned a huge deal with Belaire and met with Rick Ross in the US.  

OBM and Tenor followed the path of Kpalum. They released “Zizi kaka”, which trended on TikTok.  

Mimie came through with the video of “Terminer”.

Belyv dropped an earworm titled “Maman , IL ne savent pas”.  

Kang Quintus music artist Remii released “Doro”. 

AUGUST

Sabrina released “No Time” , a follow up of “On the low”. 

ObakR dropped a mellifluous tune titled “Seul”. The song has an international potential. You can check it out. 

Lydol released “Na so e dey” music video. It is a sweet-sounding song produced by I.V.O 

Crownz released the video of “My mind”. 

SEPTEMBER

Krys M and Jovi owned the month with the release of “Il va donner pour moi” and “2035” project respectively. Krys M’s video has garnered 7. 2 million views in 3 months.

Martin’s is another gifted Cameroonian artist signed under Afrobits Production. He dropped “Nobody”. It has over 1 million views. 

OCTOBER

In October, Vanister came through with a follow-up video “Je m’en fou”. 

KO-C released the video of his song “Paolo”, off the Genesis Album. 

Elisha K released the video of “Loner” featuring Rinyu. It is arguably one of the best Afrobeats songs from Cameroon this year. 

Ulanda’s “Mon Mari” video starred Coco Emilia. The video against domestic vi0lence has amassed over 1 million views in 2 months.

NOVEMBER

MiNk’s dropped the video of his collaboration with KO-C on the song “Ton Comportement”. 

Salatiel made an indelible impact, with a solid collaboration with Charlotte Dipanda on “Closer”. The video was amassed more than 1 million views in a month. 

Phillbill dropped the video of “Ma Lova”, a collaboration with Krys M. 

Crownz dropped the follow up video of “My mind”, titled “Where Dem Dey”, under MCP Group. 

RAIZY dropped “Go” visualizer concept in November. The song has earned a decent trend on TikTok. 

Sabrina came hard with “Sabrigang”. 

DECEMBER

Elisha K continued his successful run, with “A little bit of Love” video. Elisha K’s “Days of Elisha” opus is a masterpiece. 

Blanche Bailly came through with another mind-blowing tune titled “Le Feu”. 

AJ BAHBOY released an impressive debut project dubbed “Real Life”, under Sa Majesté. 

Lill humble had a great year. He dropped “To the end”, after “I pray” and “Electrocute” 

In terms of international collaboration, the percentage in 2023 was generally low. 

The only prominent collaborations were Blanche Bailly featuring Elow’n kiffnobeat (Cote D’Ivoire) on “Le Feu”.

Lill Humble featuring EMTEE (South Africa) on “Electrocute”

Tzy Panchak featuring Innoss B (Congo) in “Jamais”. 

2023 witnessed the emergence into spotlight of a new breed of super-talented Cameroonian artists;

Jeje, JKree, Loocid and Bobo FDG.

Cameroon artists traveled abroad for shows ;

KO-C had a tour in North America and Europe, Phillbill had a tour in Europe, which ended with his passport confiscated, Gomez, Krys M and Mic Monsta US tours, Rinyu, Blaise B and Remii performed in Canada, Tenor had a Europe Tour etc

The Cameroonian Diaspora artists keep churning out projects.

SnazzyShikena Mva dropped “Kosi Nyam” and “Holy Water”. Wakaman dropped “Bounce” music video , Joyce Babatunde dropped “Just like DAT”. and Intro. 

Tayc was unstoppable in 2023. He dropped “Encorps”, Lova, Love me, and collaborated with Teni on “Mercredi”.

Cameroon’s urban music industry is making up the leeway. It is looking promising and 2024 could be better considering the projects that are underway. 

#nexdimempire