2014 was the year. We were all introduced to a slender, young woman who released a song called ‘Kaki Mbere’. I remember when that song was released, I loved it so much that I made it a point to introduce it to as many people as I could.
It was 2014. The Cameroonian urban music industry as we know it today was entering into a new era. The first era of urban acts like Krotal, Ak Sang Grave and Lady B was dimming out. This second era was different and a lot more exciting. Driven largely by new technology and the quick adoption of social media amongst a herd of young Cameroonians eager to let their voices heard and their talents seen, it showed great promise.
It was 2014, and just the year before, Stanley Enow had rung the bell, loudly, to announce this new era. It was clear that there was going to be a tectonic shift in the entertainment landscape of Cameroon and Gasha, with just that one single released was already a prominent voice of this new dawn.
And after ‘Kaki Mbere,’ her next release (This Life) and her collaboration with Magasco (Fire) solidified her place in the hearts and the ears of what was easily going to be a core fanbase. So empty was the market at that time that Gasha could have easily clinched a huge chunk of it for herself. Because Gasha was different. Gasha was refreshing. Gasha was unique. Gasha had a singular voice. Gasha had a style of her own. Gasha seemed poised become the leader of a Cameroonian music movement with a distinct, alternative, urban afropop sound.
And then Gasha went to America.
And Gasha was there for a long time. It wasn’t that even that long of a time. Two years or so if I remember well. But considering the rapid changes that the industry was undergoing at the time, it was long enough for her to be almost forgotten.
In the two years that Gasha spent in the U.S and the time it took for her to shake off her demons after she returned, a lot happened. Too much happened. The Cameroonian urban scene grew at an alarmingly fast rate. Mr Leo, Blanche, Tenor, Daphne, Salatiel, Locko, Tenor, Jovi, Michael Kiessou and a bunch of other names both forgotten and established were beginning to carve up niche markets for themselves.
Not only that, the Cameroonian urban sound began to have something of an identity, and the urban scene began to have some structure. New Bell music signed artists like Pascal and Tilla, Alpha Better came to prominence, and Pit Bacardi signed X Maleya to Empire music. Big Dreams gave us Locko.
Also music blogging started shaping itself into an industry and other music industry professions began to gain better knowledge of the business: - make up artists, costume designers, creative directors, video directors, stylist, photographers, PR reps, artist managers, urban music producers – largely driven by the Molyko alumni.
That little Vesuvius erupted when Gasha, musically-speaking, was absent. She missed out on it greatly. By 2017, there were people who had put out music and were far more popular than she had eve been. Locko, for example.
And then Gasha got back into the studio. Gasha has been releasing music. Gasha is still different. Gasha is still refreshing. Gasha is still unique. Gasha is still has a singular voice. Gasha still has a style of her own.
But it seems something is lacking. Despite all the music she has put out since she got back on the scene – Back to life, Le meilleur, Romeo and Juliet, Na You, Addicted – Gasha doesn’t seem to be able to spring back to who she was before.
But it’d be wrong to think that she is washed. She isn’t. She still has some fans left from her glory days and they ply the comment section on her YouTube channel with wishes of success and how they hope she bounces back quickly enough. My sister is one them. She is very likely Gasha’s biggest fan west of the Atlantic.
But is Gasha really going to be able to bounce back? If it you ask me, I would first go with a “where?” In what market? Because, although she was more or less mainstream back in 2014, she did so with a sound that today is definitely not mainstream and cannot fly through that ecosystem.
Can she exist in a niche market? Yes. But also the more serious question here is, can a niche market survive in our ecosystem? If so, when? Because the truth is as much as we praise the Vernyuy Tinas, asking them to be true to themselves and their music, artists like her don’t get to book many shows in this country. At least not very big ones. Joyce Babatunde can best tell you.
Cameroonian Afrosoul artists like Joyce Babatunde and Danielle Eog get to book shows because they have international institutions like the Goethe Institute or l’Institut Franco-Camerounaise who are behind them. And it is usually strong purists who attend these shows. People on the fringes of the genre’s melomanes do not usually attend these shows.
Whereas it seems that is the only market in which Gasha can now succeed today. At least she can go in with the advantage of having a known name, and she can always venture out of that to collaborations like she did with Tzy Panchak in Galilee (a very beautiful song, by the way). But the danger now is that she is going to have to cater to an audience of purists and semi purists - people who are very critical of the musical and lyrical composition. Which basically means that Gasha would have to step up a little more.
And it’s a long game
Even when you look at our neighbours to the west, the Alte scene is going mainstream because the Nigerian urban music industry is a lot more mature than us in many ways, and not just in the years of existence. Alte artists Santi, Odunsi, Nonso Amadi and semi-Alte artists like Omah Lay, Tems and Fireboy DML can appeal both to the mainstream market and to Alte purists that are hardcore fans of Odunsi.
But we are not there yet. We are not even close. To say the least, Gasha has her work cut out for her. She is going to have to figure something out for herself. What does she have to do? Communicate better? Collaborate with people outside of her niche a little more? Redefine her sound? Look for a better way to engage her fanbase?
Whatever it is, the answer will always be found first and foremost, in the music. Everything that appendages that is also important, but the music is most important. And Gasha is going to have to need to do some trials and iterations to find the right formula. And the market will need some to grow and be a little more mature and more open in order to be ready to embrace it fully.
- Wandji Wilfred.