Kameni may just be getting into the spotlight now, but it would appear she has been in the background for a long time. I would not have known, were it not for a comment under her recently released video on YouTube. Someone mentioned she was Mr Leo’s love interest in the clip for “On va gerer.” Not sure why Mr. Leo was keeping her there for this long (if at all he did) and why he only gifted her to us now. Anyway, she is here now and that’s what matters.
I discovered her in December after a friend tagged me on an Instgm post of hers. And my very first impression? Wow, this girl CAN ACTUALLY sing! It may seem like a detail, but you’d be surprised how many of our artistes sound horrible when they have to entertain a live crowd. I’m inclined to quote one particular example but I’ll keep that to myself. Hehehe
Another thing that struck me that day was her writing ability. Her instgm page is full of clips of herself singing live to a beat in what seems to be half-freestyle/half-written material. Whatever it is, her writing is quite atypical. It is not repetitive and does not always hover around the over-used theme of love and the “baby I will buy you Lamborghini” that we have heard over and over.
As a matter of fact, if you listen to the mashup covers she has on YouTube, you will discover that she brings an extra layer of lyricism to every song she covers. She adds her own lyrics to these songs and it does so well that it blends into the theme and spirit of these songs.
And then there is her style; that fusion of Dancehall and Afropop vibe that she carries in her voice. I wouldn’t say it is unique. Daphne, if you remember, started off on the same path but no doubt had to veer off that path a little due to the demands of the market. But methinks what distinguishes her from Daphne is her voice and how it is more suited to the genre. Kameni’s voice gives a certain density and additional layer of aesthetic to the whole thing. She is capable of sounding rugged without sounding rugged and capable of going soft without being too princess-y.
And I love it!
I have dusted my internal musical encyclopaedia to find someone I could compare her to and the only person she reminds me of most is a Jamaican singer called Tanya Stephens. If you are interested in knowing who Tanya Stephens is, you might want to check her song “Way Back” on YouTube.
But to come back to Kameni, another thing I love about her is just the persona she brings along. It’s her whole style. She has this borderline tomboy, eccentric-without-being-it, half-rugged, I-don’t-care-too-much-to-not-actually-care, I-didn’t-come-here-to-be-pretty vibe oozing all over her.
It’s written in her voice, in the way she sings out of the side of her mouth, how she squints and looks into the camera from an angle, and in the way she waves her index fingers around almost every time she sings.
But I think what I love most about her is her versatility; her capability of being soft and of being more rugged all at once and at different times. Her mashup cover of “Painkiller” by Sarkodie and “Mad Over You” by Runtown is a perfect example. In her first official single “Boss,” she does it too.
All this to say, Kameni is some serious competition and it’s only a matter of time before she snatches status quo along with our ears and our hearts. She is an additional colour to the canvas on which the urban music painting is being done. I daresay she is not coming as a thin brushstroke on the painting but as a thick and wide blob. Soon enough, we all will notice it.
I can’t wish her the best enough
Click here to watch her first single. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9GjWR6D4A
- Wandji Wilfred.