There was a time when Cameroon’s urban music was fighting for it’s life and Jovi was there to give it a heart. Many of us will still remember the feeling, almost a nostalgia, that Don 4 Kwat and Jovi’s HIV album gave us when they came out. I would have called myself a fraud if I ventured into music after Jovi came into the limelight and my imposter syndrome would have been unbearable if I moved back to Cameroon to do music after Stanley Enow won the MTV award. But, I started doing music before I heard of Jovi so i won’t live with those feelings ever. However, I must say Jovi is one of the reasons I felt confident moving back home with nothing but music equipment. I have since moved on but that part of my story will remain forever.
I am saying these things to show you how important or should I say pivotal the two names are to our culture; not like you do not already know.
The fact is, even though many would not want to admit it, Jovi is the reason why many urban artists in Cameroon today even exist. If I didn’t know people who knew Stanley from way back, I would have even dared to say Jovi gave Stanley the push to rap but that is not the case. Stanley started rapping before Don 4 Kwat popped but I am sure somewhere along the line, he was exasperated by the languishing hip hop scene in Cameroon until Jovi came through.
When I came to Cameroon, I learned a lot about Jovi from people he has worked with in the past. Even though many of those relationships have turned sour, many still admire him for either his art and work ethic, or for his philosophical steadfastness. I have also had the chance to meet Jovi two or three times in private settings and we have exchanged quite a bit. Meanwhile I do not necessarily agree with his views on many things, I still respect him for what he has done for the culture and that will never change.
I am however writing here to address the fact that many people have expressed disappointment when it comes to Jovi. For many, his actions have allowed, for lack of a better phrase, wack artists to become the poster children of Cameroonian music. Whether we like it or not, Stanley has become the international representative of Cameroonian Hip Hop beyond our national territory and that is a sad thing for those of us who appreciate art over showbiz.
One main area of concern as concerns Jovi is with his music videos which to many, lack the required allure in today’s showbiz environment. For a moment, I wanted to board that train of thought but now, I will like to ask people to take a chill pill and audit their perceptions because I have come to the realization that many are right for the wrong reason.
The reasoning is; to beat Stanley, Jovi has to get Sarkordie, AKA, Ice Price, and Davido features. To make Cameroon proud, Jovi has to go shoot videos in South Africa and in the US. Meanwhile I would love to see Jovi feature with some of the great names mentioned, I do not believe that will make him more legendary that he already is. As for shooting videos out of Cameroon, I am totally against the exportation of our make up artists income. I have written extensively about my dislike for the nice location x nice car x beautiful vixen formula being employed by our video directors in more than 90% of our music videos.
I don’t think international collaborations and cleaner videos are what is needed because even the artists that have done those, Stanley included, have not come close to what I can call stewards of our culture. From the get go, I have never expected any of them to be anything other than selfish entertainers but I have always held Jovi to a higher esteem.
That said, I believe there are many things that Jovi could have done better to uplift the image of the Cameroonian artist and in a personal level, earn even more of my respect.
He is still one of the most intellectually sound artists of our generation which puts him in a position to lead beyond and touch on certain sociocultural ideologies that are fundamental to the messed upness of our current society. I am talking about impacting our society psychologically. Meanwhile he does quite a lot in that light,he has chosen to hold back on using his influence positively in many ways. He does not do enough outside his songs to communicate clearly his philosophy which is easily misunderstood by a population that has a shallow mindset when it comes to interpreting artwork.
I personally love the fact that Jovi sticks to calling out out many ‘fake’ people in the industry. Some of his truths might have led to him being blackballed in many circles and he knew it before that that would happen but went on. The question is why doesn’t he go all the way then since he has built an image of someone with nothing left to lose.
That many people do not really appreciate him for what he has done already, I think, is the reason why he has basically given the Cameroonian public a middle finger but that to me takes away more than it adds to his status.
“Ask petit dem kwat, I dey for here for helep.” That is the Jovi that I hoped would last his entire career. For being more than a pioneer but also a visionary. Somewhere very early on along the line, he got bit and started protecting himself too much. They say once bitten, twice shy and it is sad that it happened with Jovi.
I usually draw cultural parallels between Jovi and Damon Dash, and Irv Gotti. The three have that aggressive approach that makes culture vultures shiver in their presence and all don’t quite get a lot of credit for the things that their stance have helped safeguard for the culture. The difference comes in that Damon Dash and Irv Gotti have suffered almost the same fate as Jovi but have continued to press on in their beliefs while Jovi seems to have given up on his to ‘look after himself.’ Damon Dash still reaches out to the few people that know his truth to try and make sure the whole culture doesn’t get preyed upon and Irv Gotti is still showing you black Americans in the entertainment business how they can do it independently but for Jovi, e dey like se e don wash hand move am from the matter.
For a man with very few L’s, his collaboration with frenchKind is another, if not his greatest blunder of all time - the ultimate disconnect in his career.
Everyone knows I will never wear anything by frenchkind and some idiots will chose to call me a hater but tell me now just one thing frenchkind has done for the people that come from where Jovi comes from -the poor, oppressed, voiceless people of Cameroon. FrenchKind is nothing but a ‘rich’ kid’s way of feeling like he is doing something. 99% of the guys I see in Jovi’s music videos can’t afford a frenchkind bomber jacket without further hurting their financial position. I mean even the FK T-shirts that retail for 10,000 FCFA upwards do not even have the quality of some stuff you can get for 3,500 FCFA in our local shops. When frenchkind started, I was happy we might be getting the FUBU of our culture but it turned out to be nothing even close. FK is the definition of a culture vulture.
Jovi’s collaboration with the company, to me, is just a case of hobnobbing.
For a moment I thought his plan was to hijack the brand and its resources and turn it to something that will benefit the culture at the level where it is needed most but I was obviously asking too much of him. In his ‘Monshung’ video, all the societal ills he speaks against are juxtaposed alongside the same type of behavior that torments people in our society psychologically to the point where they have to lie about their lives just to fit in or be respected - you know the rich kids that laugh at the poor kids to the point where the poor kids have to show a neighbors house as theirs. In the end, his philosophy looks confused.
It is a norm in our society that everyone complains about corrupt leaders but if one of those leaders were to visit them, they would offer their best food and their best wine to the person who is making sure they live in deplorable situations. This is however not the kind of behavior one should be getting from people who are said to be the ones to lead our nation out of its current coma.
I once had a debate with Jovi and he said something along the lines of “I can only think for and speak for myself” - I was taken aback. Meanwhile that is a respectable ideology in some contexts, that is not the mark of a true leader which might explain why Jovi does not get the kind of following he demands in the first place.
The topic of Jovi can never be exhausted. My friend Mike says Jovi should be a whole course on human psychology at the university level. As a writer, I am always in search for great characters to tell the story and Jovi possesses all the characteristics of one. For as long as he lives and even after, we would continue to talk about his good, his bad, and his ugly as windows into our society.
- Tino Foy