I have always tried to be bipartisan in my approach to every article I have written here on PoiseSocial. I always try to take the diplomatic high road and not bruise people’s feelings or egos as I go along, and at the same trying to be as objective as possible. Today, however, it’s gloves off for me.
Many of you should have heard by now about the giant concert that will be “offered” by the president on the eve of the elections. I will not talk more about it because I do not want to give more publicity to that sham of a concert that we all know seeks to deify Biya and his purported ‘force of experience’ that has done nothing but run this country aground and kill off all its institutions over the last 36 years.
I’m more concerned about the musicians that will be participating in that concert. While some names on the ‘marquee’ do not surprise me at all for we know quite well that “la politique du ventre” has been the bread and butter of many musicians for years, I was quite taken aback by some names in the line-up.
Kareyce Fotso’s name for one really got my hair strands on end. But it was Nabila and Featurist and Moustik and Dynastie that really got my attention and my subsequent horror.
Guys, it’s with all solemnity that I say that anyone under the age of 35 who supports the incumbent president in any way, shape or form either has screws loose in the head or is benefitting directly from the regime. There is NO reason whatsoever why in this day and age an urban musician (let’s focus on that category) should be taking part in anything that has to do with raising the profile of Paul Biya amongst the electorate.
Some may argue that we live in a democracy and that people are free to choose whoever they deem fit as candidate or again, support whoever they want to. True, but again, as far as this current political campaign is concerned it holds no water. It’s a topic that I don’t even want to put up for debate.
I think it is sad that most urban musicians today actively seek our help when they need us to promote them. When they have x/y single out and need us to share, or when they have x/y show they need us to come to or when they are nominated for x/y award and they need us to vote for them. All of which we do.
But when it’s time to do something for the general good, to speak up against the establishment, or to use their platform to rally young people to do something that will affect the general good, very few of them show up. I always come back to the example of Nigeria where celebrities today have been using their voice to incite young Nigerians to go register. Everyone seems to agree that Buhari is a failure and they want somebody else, come 2019.
In Cameroon, niet! Instead, our rapper-in-chief came out to say there was no Anglophone problem.
The French have a word; Clochardisation. In American English it could translate to something like ‘bumification’ where the bum is a homeless person. In French, it transcends the homelessness aspects and brings into it beggar, hopelessness and being at the mercy of someone or an institution.
Les musiciens Camerounais pour longtemps ont étés clochardisés. And that happened because pretty much like every institution in this country, the sector of arts and culture has been laid to waste. How many times, over the radio, have we heard of arguments between the Ministry of Culture and copyright issues? How many time times have we seen these same musicians doing sit-in strikes in front of said ministry over some unpaid dues for so-and-so arts and culture festival?
How many times have we heard of “famous” musicians sick and dying in hospital because no money to pay bills? How many times have we seen them pass on Canal2 asking for an élan du Coeur’ to help them pay their hospital bills?
I’m not saying that the government is responsible for their bills, but for most, the abject poverty in which they find themselves has been a consequence, direct or indirect of the way the institutional forces that are meant to create an environment that helps them thrive has rotted over the years and left them no guarantee to a better life.
We live, for example, in a country where there are no concert halls or arenas built specifically for that purpose; just makeshift ones.
And how, dans cette sauce, a young and thriving musician like Nabila would go sing at a concert done to the glory of a man whose leadership is responsible for the decrepit nature in which arts and culture find themselves today is just beyond me.
I know some of you may be saying now that she was probably given little choice or promised to be blacklisted if she ( the others as well) did not come through. First of all I have it on good authority that a number of urban musicians were approached and they turned down the invitation.
Secondly, gone are the days when you could be blacklisted in Cameroon and not have any other option. Back in 2009 when Valero was blacklisted, you could only watch “Lettre au president” on Canal2 and Vision4. That was before Vision4 became what it is today.
Ten years later things are a lot different. Cameroon Urban music is number 1 in francophone Africa and you can make more money touring out of Cameroon than you can in Cameroon. And that is nothing but fact! Mr Leo and Daphne are two good examples. As a matter of fact, 80% of Daphne’s YouTube views are not from Cameroon. I checked the numbers.
We can’t continue to live in the old dispensation. We are a new generation with a new mindset. We cannot sell our souls for a 3 million paycheck to people that owe us 300 million. I know for a fact that I am older than everyone in the picture accompanying this article, save perhaps for Moustik. And I was born years after Biya came to power. What more of them?
We owe it to ourselves, to our junior brothers and sister and to our children to be better; to do better. And that starts with knowing how to sacrifice. 3 million francs is not small money. It can help a musician go a long way. But what is that compared to the support or the lost support down the road? What is that compared to the brand that you have built so far? What is that compared to the collective good? What is that compared to your conscience and your good sleep?
And ironically Nabila appeared on a Salatiel-produced track yesterday amongst a horde of other musicians singing “We Need Peace.” And a few days later, she will be singing at a concert, again, ‘offered’ by the architect of the famous peace that only people in the C party can see.
They have taken a decision. I hope they shall come back to us one day and apologize for letting us down and for forsaking us. But for now, they have taken a decision.
Until then, they should know that just like the North, we remember and just like those who currently hold power in Westeros, they will pay their debt to us because just like the Iron Bank, we have been here and will always be. And sooner or later, the house always wins.
- Wandji Wilfred.