December 30, 2017. I was at an upscale bar in Bastos having a cocktail on the invitation of a friend. I usually avoid such places around that time of year, but my imaginary girlfriend had broken up with me (because bushfaller) and I was bored out of my mind and had nothing to else to do. Plus, I’m not the type to turn down a free cocktail. So, I was sipping on a Redheaded Slut when I noticed from the TV screen that the Miss Cameroon beauty pageant was going on live. I broke one of my cardinal rules around real-life social interactions and checked my phone. I specifically went to Twitter to see what the conversations around the pageant were like.
Just about everyone was talking about a certain Nyangono Du Sud, the main discourse being about one of his dancers; a rather hefty woman who had gone to the ground was laying on her back and was trying to flip herself up in some kind of a half-summersault. She did like 5 unsuccessful tries and resorted to just stand up as any normal person would. The hall went wild with laughter. That seemed to be the highlight of the evening, overshadowing the contestants and even the complaints about the poor organisation of the event.
The Nyangono Du Sud phenomenon was officially born that day and thrust into the limelight and I began to see clips and know more about the man himself, whom it seems has been around for quite a while (since 2012). It was then that I also came to know one of his songs that has a rather unsavoury title…“Le Trou Barbu.”
Nyangono of the South has been all over the place over the past few weeks; from WhatsApp Status posts to Twitter, Facebook, TV, and radio reports and was even recently at PROMOTE. At this point, if you have not at least heard about Nyangono of the South, then you are seriously out of the loop.
Listen, I’m not going to pretend and say his body of music is not horrible. It’s one of the most insipid, uninspired and tacky things I’ve heard in my life. And I’m sure we have all heard music that is that bad. His last song however…
But if we move away from the music a little bit and look at the personality and the man himself and society, we begin to question how it is that we have been able to elevate someone who we can aptly describe as a jester, a court’s clown, to the near-superstar status that he is enjoying now. I have no doubts that this fame will last 15 mins but we can’t take away from the fact that the man is more popular today than many more serious musicians are or will ever be.
I mean, the ingredients to understand how he got there are clear. Social media has played a big role. We have been making fun of the man for years and have been spreading the jokes and clearly dismissing him for the jester he is. And now, with this new song that at the very least has a semblance of a coordinated rhythm and composition the whole thing has taken a different turn. At some point, I want to think people actually invite him at shows more to laugh at him than to enjoy his body of art (and I say art here with a bitter taste in my mouth).
Or is it the other way around? Are we projecting our own auto-derision on the man? Are we really laughing at ourselves when we participate in the madness that his music is? Are we, by this, telling ourselves that we should not always be tight-butted about life and sometimes we should let our hair down and just go crazy on some stupid stuff?
I love writing and I love writing that makes sense. I’ve always listened to music and focused on the words. I like to be able to listen to music and get something from it. Something that makes sense. Even if it is a club song. It comes with my love for words. But I’ve also realised that when it comes to music we also need some sort of balance. Music can’t always be uplifting, romantic, or reflective. Sometimes it just needs to be stupid and crazy. Although there are levels to the whole thing. There is “Coller la Petite” which is at the upper echelon and then there is “Ca a déjà commencé” which is way down below at the bottom of the pit.
Because at the end of the day, no matter how much we tout our intelligence on social media, we are barely 4 million here on Facebook. Real life is where things happen. Real life that is far from the virtual personas we have built for ourselves. Most of us Cameroonians are simple people. People who just go about struggling to make ends meet. And when Nyangono of the South comes on on television, it gives them an opportunity to laugh and forget their problems even if it is just for the few minutes.
Next time when they sit in a taxi, someone might bring up Nyangono and they can all collectively laugh and discuss the man and the taxi ride might seem a tad more jovial and give an opportunity for these Cameroonians to unite, even if for a few minutes, in something, even when it is as derisory as the man who claims he is better than Michael Jackson.
The truth is, society needs the Nyangonos. Not to turn the man into the butt of our jokes, but to remind us that we sometimes should not take ourselves too seriously and we need to let go from time to time and just be free. So next time “ça a déjà commencé ” comes on in the club, best believe I am going to dance and sweat my clothes out. After which I am going to sit down and seriously question my life’s choices.
Wayayouille!
- Wandji Wilfred.