#HIPHOP237 #AugustRush Chronique de ABOKI du blog "dabreezenation"

#HIPHOP237 #AugustRush Chronique de ABOKI du blog « dabreezenation »

Publié le 26 septembre 2014, par dartnaud

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“The August Rush”

Re-cap and review of the month of AUGUST BY ABOKI

It is one of those mornings when I really feel like writing and this subject has been on my mind for quite some time. I don’t know if I am seeing imaginary elements on the music graph but even in this dreamy and uncertain state, I am quite sure that if you look closely at the month of August, with regards to Cameroons music industry (or ecosystem as some like top call it), you’ll notice a number of eye-popping events. From the release of Ciana’s very anticipated video, to Numerica’s chart topping position on Trace; there is, I believe, quite a lot to learn. It’s quite boring for me to justify my opinions and thoughts on others’ work. Yet I always seem to the same “yawning effect” when I say most of the things I write are not always “objective” (PS: let me dodge my stones in peace).

Firstly I think there were way too many songs released within this given time frame (by this I mean the very eventful month of August). Especially given said artists’ camps. Now don’t get me wrong, we need content for the industry to grow, but what use is all this content if it goes nowhere.

Case in point, Ewube of Best Music Inc. released her considerably well received song, #PartyAllNite at a time when all the attention could be solely on her and other people from different camps could afford to help her push the song.

I’m just going to go ahead and list the title of songs that dropped within August.

– OzeileNcheingo By Ciana

– Wadjo By  Dj Vybz feat Fluri Boys

– Elevate By DJ karl feat Arre

– FreeBoy By Spido & Sadrak

– Owe Owe By Reniss feat Sadrak

– RendezVous By Ambe

–  Cut u Cafe By Steveslil

–  Rands and Naira Cover By BestMusic

– HighLife By Chrisley Ndam

–  Fire Burn Dem (video) – By Tilla Raps

– Rastafari By Daphne

– Nkap By Gee Reign Feat Gasha

– Tongoh (Video) By C’prime

– Marry Me (Audio & Video) by Magasco

– Mbambe – Ardson

I applaud MMPR for putting up a ruthless campaign for Ciana and her brand. Unlike a lot of songs on the above list, they actually took time in planning the release and doing social media chats and campaigns. As an artist and person I have nothing but love and admiration for Ciana … but with regards toOzeileNcheingo … *wears helmet and puts on seatbelt* I am not the biggest fan. Apart from the title being too long, I don’t think the song has enough “bars”. Generally I think Bangwa Sense was a really good song but OzeileNcheingo wasn’t the best follow up. The Campaign and the efforts put in promoting the song till date have been enormous and I respect that and hope others watch and learn.

I think if record executives come together to coordinate their artists’ release campaigns, we would have better results.

Case study: WADJO and ELEVATE. If you look at the artists involved in these songs, you will notice that they come from basically the same area or camps; so they’ll tend to have a similar if not the same audience. Thus, dropping these songs at close intervals only divides attention from the songs. Arre’s profile picture could only push #Elevate and Fluri Boys could only push Wadjo but if these releases were two weeks apart (for example), I think the promotion emphasis would have been laid on one song and people/supporters won’t have topick sides or have a complicated twitter name like “#Elevate-#Wadjo”at a go. The case was the same with Magasco and Tilla. The videos dropped on the same week. Tilla is apparently under Magasco’s label (B Boy Records) and it would have made sense if one of the videos were postponed… divided attention again. Talking about Magasco, MarryMe has been his most unsuccessful song/video to date. I for one didn’t really like the song.. I mean there is good singing and all but overall it’s not the song that will last in your mind for a day… It’s been barely a month after the release but the song is virtually extinct on social media. And before you moof ya slepas them start shoot me dey, Magasco is an extremely talented guy and the song is good, but it’s not Magasco good.

Gee Reign seems to be a very underrated artist. His first single definitely made a whole lot of noise but his follow ups haven’t been that successful. Teaming up with a industry heavy- weight like Gasha should have done the trick to this single which I believe is a very good song but somehow, didn’t make it to the audience. I somehow think Gee doesn’t have a solid team behind his movement and if he does, they need to spend more time on strategy and promo.

I wasn’t really happy when Stevens dropped the song Rastafari, I thought it was too abrupt and it wasn’t the right song. You see, I happen to know Daphne very well and even worked with her back in the day. She has very powerful vocals and I just thought that she could do better. You must be getting tired of me expecting too much from the acts I’ve mentioned above but I just happen to believe in the capabilities of artists and it sort of saddens me when they fall under the bar. Regardless, Rastafari is a lovely song and the video does justice to the song… Nkeng Stephens knew exactly how to portray the relevance of the song visually and with a record label like Stevens, I think they will be able to power through with Daphne.

Rendezvous by Ambe….hmmm… if you follow my blog, you must have read my views on the song. Culturally it was on point. It is new and refreshing to hear something so original. I however didn’t like the video. As a matter of fact I hated it. I thought it didn’t bring out the cultural aspects of the song and…. oh well massa ah no be like am me. If you’ve been watching closely, however, you’ll notice that the video made to Trace and other major stations in the country. So in the words of my mentor, “NO RULES!”. Estelle Ahanda of GlamPR has been doing an amazing job since the release of the song and the campaign is still ongoing. It is something to watch and learn from. Like I said when I started this article, there are a whole lot of things happening on the graph. So, « Mehnnnn Shine Thy eyes ».

Tongoh by C’Prime also dropped in the song/Video infested second week of August. I was particularly interested in how people will react to this song. Something new and fresh. A rebellious-contemporary-new school sounding instrumental, with kids rapping about things in pidgin. The video, I love; but the sound… I was a little bit skeptical on its reception. It didn’t turn out to be a hit but I suppose it give some exposure to C’prime and went ahead to help the aMusic Brand.

Rands and Naira Cover by BestMusic was a solid song, I think it went further to prove that Ewube is a really good singer and Slimbeatz as a really good rapper, I however didn’t think it was the right move for Ewube as an artist maybe for the label because the song brings out the clique side of the label. Ewube’s  #partyAllNite was well received and I thought emphasis would be laid on a follow-up video or internet and street campaign. But that’s just me with my own kinna crase idea them.

 

Owe Owe by Reniss skipped my attention it’s really deep and the instrumentals are sick (Le monstre). Somehow, she hasn’t surfaced with a big enough  hit ‘til now but as they say “na last time by time”.

Mbambe by Ardson is such equally a very nice song. I am a “rap head” and I recognize bars when I see them. It is unfortunate that the song is so underrated but then again, no strategy whatsoever,  just talent and we all know sey talent dey Cameroon like ha lava dey for mountain. Upon hearing the song, everyone just says “Jovi”. You see, it’s “sound politics” so, the flag bearer always gets linked to everyone. It’s like Kanye was the new school leader at one point, so anyone and everything that came out at some point was linked to him. My point is these kids are equally talented even though they are greatly influenced by the kings and I think that talent shouldn’t by overlooked by the similarity.

I like music, Oh lawddddd! I adore music. Reason why I tend to see things from this perspective. I shall be releasing a series of interviews on the take of various people within the ecosystem (industry) in August. Believe me when I say, based on the things that happened in August, we can learn a lot and eventually shape the future of Cameroon music.

Blog: dabreezenation.blogspot.com

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Auteur : dartnaud

L'Afrique mon essence, le Cameroun ma muse ... J'aime la tchop (le kouakoukou et le riz), les mots(la poésie), la musique (Bikutsi, Hip-Hop). Blagueur et toujours en mode sourire. Si tu veux me "vexe", touche mes dos !