I listened to Ewube’s EP for the first time yesterday. It has been sitting in my computer for a few weeks now and I finally got the chance to listen to it.
I found the tone and texture of the album quite an interesting one; musically-speaking. It is basically a goodbye to the Ewube that we have known for the last five or so years that we have been watching her clips on the internet. And the only thing I can say to that is “good riddance.”
Ewube is a very talented young woman but let’s just say until now, if I were a DJ at a party, Ewube’s songs won’t be in my line-up of songs. Perhaps the only time she would appear is when I put on Liinx’s “K-Town” in which she featured.
Again, Ewube is a very talented young woman but for a long time, ragga dancehall music has not, to put in today’s millennial jargon, been popping. Look at three of the most emblematic leaders of the dancehall movement from the early 2000s; Elephantman, Sean Paul and Beenie Man. They have basically disappeared from the international music scene. You can even throw in Mr Vegas and Vybz cartel in there.
I haven’t been interested in a Sean Paul record since 2011 at the very least. And trust me, I was a big-time Sean Paul fan. The very first CD I bought was Sean Paul’s “Dutty RocK.” I still think that artistes who persist in that musical genre have a hard rock to break. As a matter of fact, the rock in Sean Paul’s ‘Dutty Rock’ has morphed into that rock lol.
And I think that was what happened to Ewube. She persisted a little too long in that genre; which I think she did an honourable job at. But the mainstream appeal just wasn’t there. Today, it takes a special kind of ragga-dancehall record to break that mould and have a crossover mainstream (and international) appeal and get people dancing like they did to ‘Gimme da Light’.
But Ewube continued in that path for too long if you asked me. Song after song; Pop It, Trowey, Party All Nyte, Choleh Me. Even songs like “On Melange” which was supposed to be some sort of crossover Afropop song was sung in that typical ragga-dancehall manner. Her lighter, slower songs like “Fall 4 U” which could work well today still followed that ragga path.
And it didn’t help that she was tossed a little bit around from one record label to another. Perhaps that lack of stability and the outcome of a clear musical project also had its effects.
And then came Stevens Music.
Ironically, Stevens Music has in their ranks another artiste who had been on that same path and has pretty much left it; Daphne. Like I mentioned above, it takes a special kind of ragga-dancehall record to break that mould and have a crossover mainstream. Daphne did that with Rastafari. It wasn’t the most known, but it made far bigger waves than anything any artists in that same musical direction had over the last 5 years at least in Cameroon
But it seems Ewube herself has been aware of that. Her very last two releases before she joined Stevens Music (Cherie Coco, Stay ft Locko) were bells that were tolling loudly to announce a different path. Her new project under Stevens Music is merely a confirmation.
Ewube has basically shed off her musical skin and is now embracing a completely new genre, one that has a larger market appeal. Even the one song on this new EP that is reggae/ragga-influenced is a more mature and textured sonic experience compared to what she had given us previously.
Stevens Music is a powerhouse that is not known to be profligate with their musicians, notably in their working relationship with Alpha Better Records. It’s not always been rosy for some of the artists on their roster, but one cannot deny the quality of the work they put out. Ewube’s EP is in itself an example.
Musicians taking a new musical direction is not new. From the Black Eyed Peas to Taylor Swift, the examples are many. Ewube is just one of many and many more to come. The only thing worthy of note here is that she left an aquarium for the sea. And the sharks are many. She is now basically up against every other person, more than she was before.
Competition is rife in this new body of water and she would need to learn to swim against the tide to find placid waters.
Her EP is titled Renaissance. In music, rebirth is a long process. And the only way that we can attest to the rebirth is how much of a lasting impact you had subsequently. Ewube only just shed her skin. Now, she would have to find a way to find a distinctive voice in the waters that she is now swimming in and leave her own mark. Then, will she be reborn. Will that happen? Well, only time will tell.
What I know for sure is that now, if I were a DJ at a party, her songs from this EP will be in my line-up.
- Wandji Wilfred.