Chinjong X Chinjong: THE TWO PRODUCERS YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
Two or three of my favourite Mr Leo songs happen to be his least listened-to if one has to go by YouTube views as the sole metric. Two of them are “Shayo” and “Je suis a toi.” I’ve always scratched my head about the rather lukewarm reception these two songs received in the market. “Je Suis a toi” for example is one song I thought would make far greater waves than it did but the market is the way the market is sometimes.
But it is “Shayo” that I want to talk about today. The first time I heard that song, I was very surprised. It was markedly different from all the productions I had heard Mr Leo on hitherto. As a matter of fact, it was nothing like anything I had heard any Cameroonian musician on before. It was different and it was good and I instantly fell in love with the song.
I found out later the song was produced by Trae and Lonie Chinjong, a production duo, both brothers and sisters whom, as can be seen from their social media accounts are fans of what could fall, I guess, under the umbrella of electronic music. I’m talking house, deep house, Tech House, EDM music.
This genre of music and its subgenres are not something I dabble in, and so a lot of what constitutes that eludes me. The few early songs I know in that genre are songs like Daft Punk’s “All Around The World,” and Modjo’s “Lady.”
But it is the fusion of House music and Afropop music embodied in Mr Leo’s Shayo that piqued my interest. Trae and Lonie, who also happen to be DJs, fused this sound in a way that breathes a new genre aptly called “AfroHouse.”
I think it is an interesting addition to the landscape of music we have out here and if a few other artistes give it a try, it might be interesting to see what comes out of it. Already, I believe it can export itself to many parts of Europe where electronic music, in general, has a very very huge audience. As a matter of fact, the Black Eyed, as explained by Will.I.Am, decided to move towards an electronic style of music in the early 2010s after they travelled to Europe and found out that at the nightclubs, the DJ was the star. The DJ would be on a high dais and pump loud electronic music and people would dance facing him as if it were a concert.
Anyone who knows The Black Eyed Peas from their single “Request Line” feat Macy Gray from their second album (released in 2000) knows they started as an alternative hip-hop group. They went from that to “Boom Boom Pow.”
I believe that this Chinjong X Chinjong sound can also export itself to South Africa where they have had what I think is another Afro version of House music for the longest time: 'Kwaito'.
It would be interesting to see where Trae and Lonie can take this to and how many different established musicians would want to work with them and test their feet in those waters. Honestly, if it comes out as good as what they did with Mr Leo, they might be up to something.
You can watch the video to Chinjong X Chinjong and Mr Leo's 'Shayo' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkVj1H7rrJ8
- Wandji Wilfred