P-Square,J Martins,Timaya,Bracket and many more,day in day out get considerable air time on our local radios and snack bars in Cameroon.Their popularity in Cameroon has triggered criticism from some in Cameroon who cannot understand why “foreigners” have become the people’s favourite.Their resentment even pushes them to point fingers at Cameroonian radio D.Js for dedicating so much time to foreign music at the expense of national music.But is it really a problem of foreign music or better music?
Music cannot be confined to another area,it cannot be controlled so that it doesn’t intrude into another ‘s territory.Urban music ,most especially,speaks to any group of people regardless of their country.When it is brilliantly done, this remark is even more true.However, those vexed by this situation should interpret this as a call to excellence made to Cameroonian artists.If Nigerian urban music is popular then maybe this is due to an existing void which the music has come in to fill and Cameroonian artists have to churn out good and sufficient music to compete .Rather than call for some form of musical protectionism,our artists should take this as a challenge and come up with songs which can equally make their way into Nigerian airwaves. In this debate,people should keep in mind that urban music has no frontiers whereas local genres can be circumscribed to a particular area.Furthermore,we live in a free market context where the audience decides what it wants.If they decide to choose Nigerian artists then let it be.After all,Vox populi vox dei.
I guess the C’roon music industry is still developing in the urban area so there shouldn’t be any dilema as for now until they have proven them selves beyond.
We need reliable producers and promoters in order to captivate the minds of the audience in c’roon them selves before even thinking of international. I preview there will be a change in some time as i see the c’roon urban music now moving at a speed of light . Yes.
Oh wow!!! It is not strange at all to hear this. But should this really be an alarming problem? We leave in a country of freedom of choice. Be sides nigerian music is not the only foreign music enjoyed by Cameroonians. Eg( Awilo L., Koffi O., and all these Ivorian music ( coupe decale). Are all foreign musics, instead of complaining, this should serve as an encouragement or wake up call for Cameroonian artists. I am a proud Cameroonian here in the USA, Dallas city. We are experiencing thesame situation here in African parties, all I here is Nigerian musics because majority enjoy it. I am honestly encouraging my fellow Cameroonians to stop complaining and rather work on improving their art skills. God bless….
Hmm..I dont think it should be viewed as a threat at all. Like you say, what the audience wants, the DJs will play and so will the radio and TV stations.
Now with regards to Cameroon, we have a certain mentality where we do not appreciate our own until an outsider does first. Also it seems the majority of the ‘ancien’ groups prefer old skool Makossa/Cameroon music whilst the young guns are now into stuff like hiphop, Afrobeats, RnB etc etc so maybe this musical tension is affecting the diffusion of our own music to the Cameroonian audience at large?
Cameroon music industry has been stagnant for so long now and I think that’s why it’s been so easy for us to welcome foreign music.Regarding the foreign music popular in Cameroon, what these foreign musicians like Koffi, Awilo, P Square, DJ Arafat, have done, is take their different genres of music and give it a facelift to go with the times.
Inorder to appeal to Cameroonians and the rest of the world, our music industry needs to realise that it’s ok to reinvent our music be it makossa, bikutsi,bendsikin, mba’alum, magambe and so on. We should learn to infuse other genres while still maintaining our unique style.
P Square, 2Face, Koffi and co have successfully done that and that’s why they’re selling in Cameroon and around the world like hot akara
bananas.
With that being said. We’ve recently seen what Jovi, Petit Champion, Sine, Debra Debs and co are doing to revamp the industry. With their efforts and efforts of other Cameroonian artists to come, we’re definitely on the right track.
GOOD MUSIC HAS NO COUNTRY. It’s universal.