Like most people I know, I stopped being a fan of Stanley Enow when Toumbuboss boss hit the airwaves. Let me rephrase that. Like most people I know, I stopped listening to Stanley Enow after “Hein Pere.” And it was not as if I particularly like the song in the first place. As a bit of a writer myself, I understand the craft and patience that it takes to write a song; especially a rap lyric. It is for that reason I am drawn to the words of rap songs before anything else. But that is just me. I understand that most people are not like that, and are more attracted to the melody and just want to party to the song. I am attracted to that too. But I take hip hop music seriously and when you can mix the lyric with the melody, you got my attention. Look up DMX’s “Party Up in here” for example.
“Hein Pere” was by no account a lyrical prowess. But it had a vibe to it. It was new, it was fresh and it had a heavy bass sound that pounded right in your bone marrow and like many Cameroonians, I jumped up and down to it in the club and sang along with every word. I was excited and happy that someone was going to usher in a new era in Cameroon’s hip hop landscape. I even wrote an article in a magazine praising Stanley Enow’s genius marketing (remember those Hein Pere tee-shirts?) and his use of social media and how every musician ought to emulate him. It was titled “Why Stanley Enow is the Next Great Thing.”
But it seems I spoke too soon. It happens that sometimes, musicians start their career with a club banger to attract attention and then show us the expanse of their talent later. Diam’s (who I personally consider France’s best rapper after MC Solaar) started her career with the goofy single “DJ” that put her on the charts, after which we saw the emergence of a brilliantly amazing lyricist with heavy politically-charged songs.
No one is asking Stanley to be J.Cole or Eminem or even Diam’s. But if we are honest with ourselves, putting all that “support our brother” bullshit aside, we can all agree that S.E. has been a huge disappointment really and has never been able to put anything really concrete after his first single. “Tumbuboss” was just pure gibberish. “The Phoenix” was…well…whatever it was. He ruined Dynastie Le Tigre’s song and then surprisingly churned out “Follow Me.” “Bounce” ft Locko was the only palatable song and it barely made it past the palate thanks to Locko.
I’ll not go as far as saying he has failed as rapper but he is sure walking a tightrope. Now, don’t throw stones at me yet. It is not a bad thing to not know how to write good songs. Dr Dre’s “The Chronic” is one of the most celebrated hip hop albums yet Snoop Dogg, Colin Wolfe and Kurupt wrote nearly all the songs. It is an open secret that he uses ghost writers. P Diddy too has acknowledged that he is not a good rapper and has thrown shade (I hate myself for using that expression) at his critics with the famous line “Don’t worry if I write rhymes, I write checks.” Which brings me back to the question: Is it time for S.E. to hang the mic?
Maybe not. But look at the two examples I mentioned above: Dre and Diddy. Together they shoulder two powerhouses; Aftermath Records and Bad Boy Records. What does our favourite Bayangi boy have? Motherland Records. And what has Motherland got to show for itself today? Sadly enough, just logo-emblazoned tee-shirts and hoodies.
Maybe it’s time for Stanley Enow to focus more on growing his label. There is a vast wealth of musical talent in Cameroon and with the rate at which Alpha Better Records and Big Dreams Entertainment are growing, soon enough the best will be taken.
S.E. has a great marketing team behind him-arguably the best in Cameroon. Maybe he should consider using that to boost the careers of other young artistes who can benefit from the exposure he has gotten plus the network he must have made by now because in all honesty, this rap thing seems not to be moving in the right direction for him. Either way, he will still be contributing (and immensely so) to the musical landscape in Cameroon.
No matter what the future holds for Stanley and Jovi, no matter what we think or say of them, we will forever have to give them the respect accorded to legends for what they have done for urban music in Cameroon. It is only natural that for the great potential that they show or showed, we will hold them to different standards and we will demand more from them as pioneers but the truth is maybe they are just not the ones to do everything. It might just be they have played their part and it is now for someone else to pick up where they left off.
What do you think? Do you agree with me? Tell us why.
- Wandji Wilfred.