IF Young Holiday goes on holiday, Wan Shey go teach for holiday classes.
Here is a tale of how a rapper depicts society on sound without neglecting the art of poetry. I am talking about cultural relevance in rhymes and the timing of punchlines that make a beer go hot in the hands of a belligerent to healthy societies.
[pregnant pause]
Rewind
Wandji Wilfred and I have asked Cameroonian rappers numerous times and in many ways to #fixuptheirlives. A few articles on here have delved into the origins of Hip Hop to bring out and share with you the essence of the most popular art form in the world today; begging on our very own rappers to refrain from copying and replicating current versions of the art from other societies.
The reason is, Hip Hop does different things for different cultures in different times and where we find ourselves right now in Cameroon, it is imperative for our hip hop to play a role that is very different from the role the Migos have to play in the American Hip Hop culture. The rapid rise of our music industry is due to the fact that it is where a lot of our youths are looking to for inspiration at the moment.
We are a society that is starved of heroes. I have also written in the past that “by their heroes, we shall know them.” Without us knowing, the kids are watching and emulating our behavior. They look up to us as we are the closest thing to a future life for them. We therefore have the burden of showing them the right example and teaching them through our words and actions. They trust Stanley Enow or Samuel Eto’o or Charlotte Dipanda more than they can trust Issa Tchiroma or Jacques Fame Ndongo. I mean, even I trust the former than I do the latter.
Words continue to be our main means of communication and no other genre of music has the syntax that allows the use of a large number of words like Hip Hop does. No other genre has the pedagogic capabilities of Hip Hop. Hip Hop was once termed the CNN of the ghetto in America and for lack of a better comparison, let us assume it is supposed to be the Canal2 for the Cameroonian youth.
So!
Artists have the creative power and the listeners are compelled to consume what the artists decide is good for their souls. Putting aside the need to stun, we all agree our youth need a different kind of education and Hip Hop stands a better chance of educating them outside the walls of school campuses which they mostly consider to be a boring and restrictive environment; one that they navigate passively.
Wan Shey in his recent release ’Status Update’ uses his music to share his thoughts on certain things that affect us all and determine (whether directly or indirectly) our life chances and future outcomes. Hip Hop has many roles and one of them is making us have the hard conversations.
Some ‘HARD’ Topics addressed include:-
HOMOSEXUALITY:-
This still is one of the most controversial topics in the world at large and in Africa, in particular. Historically, homosexuality has been frowned upon in our society and it is still punishable by law in many African countries. Exposure has brought some level of familiarity to this subject and there is more tolerance towards the LGBT community in Cameroon, even though most of its members continue to hide their faces. Wan Shey takes his stand against homosexuality in the lines:-
“Them sey dey civilise we bro me i laf bad Even wa ancestors be know sey man no di bop man”
OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS:-
“The history that we lived ain’t what they teaching in schools”
“Mendem be di judge, while i took my mind back to school Trained my soul and spirit since regular school was April fool”
All what he is saying here boils down to the fact that ‘self education is the only education there is.’
He joins the long list of people that continue to question the effectiveness of our education systems. Systems that confuse process for substance, where teaching is confused for learning, where grade advancement is called education, where police and military presence is considered safety, and the rat race is branded as productive work.
THE FUTURE OF OUR YOUTH:-
“Afterall, I don see all kinda thing Small pikins wey di think sey na dem go be di king”
We are all born extremely creative and ambitious. When we are young, we believe we can achieve everything but as we grow older, our ambitions are beaten down because they threaten the status quo that feeds the needs of those in control.
The youth are kept sedated on vapid television and vapid music. The education is dumbed down to brain candy. The music is substituted for Top 10 pop stations, and art is replaced with endless reality shows. The youths plug in and are transported into a state of impasse while the world is looted from them - their values are compromised.
“The second enemy for Africa na long throat Paa dem for 90yrs wey dem still dey di poke nose But occasion don finish now na time for di wash plate The youths are taking over, we don tire for di parlay”
CULTURAL VALUES
“Bro see nor, ma society is caught up People no know their value, they know dem na price for condom People go spread their false truth, pretend like say na God tok When Africans die they call our skeletons numbskulls? We drink in them thats why we no di drop bars Like Somalian schools, wa industry no get class… So right click and press cuz I'm here to refresh minds”
COLONIALISM & NEOCOLONIALISM
“Colonialists their agenda don di climb fence So i kill ma conscience just to say make i get sense”
“Now Africa di naked skin while grand Europe di nack I pray God sey one day all this thing go change Sey dis witch on top Africa go fade away We get to block wa nose against their pollution So opening wa eyes go be wa only solution So stop being yes-men, make your opinions count Not only have a share but control over your whole lives We want single, we don tire we dis blind date The same chains they tied slaves na dem dey tie wa mind dey”
That we still use the FCFA today is testament to the fact that colonial days still exist, just under a new guise. The inferiority complex that has been engineered into us continues to ensure our eternal submission to colonialist.
SELF AWARENESS & SELF IMPROVEMENT
“I thank all my fans for giving me the will to grow Promise to hold you down like kaba when wind di blow For very deep sense i no be steady christian but me I don di study all the signs like metric system
Drop in broken english, like ma flow na bancal I flow way sicker than the whole hopital central I ignore CFA for be spiritual millionaire I move ma dough from beer then investam inside common sense
I don't ball hard since i be na mashball I’m stuck up, my blood needs a passport to transport”
The questions here are many. Do we subscribe to what society prescribes or do we have the courage to listen in for our own truths? Is popping bottles in the club really what we want to do or do we do it because it is cool by society’s standards? Is it all a numbers game of who gets the most money by any means necessary or it is about being a positive force in our communities?
DEATH
“I got this attitude when my dad died so forgive me if I don't compromise to your lies”- WAN SHEY
In his book ‘The Way of The Superior Man’ one of David Deida’s aphorisms is to - Live As If Your Father Were Dead.
A man must love his father and yet be free of his father’s expectations and criticisms in order to be a free man.
Imagine that your father has died, or remember when he did die. Are there any feelings of relief associated with his death? Now that he is dead, is any part of you happy that you need not live up to his expectations or suffer his criticisms? How would you have lived your life differently if you had never tried to please your father? If you never tried to show your father that you were worthy? If you never felt burdened by your father’s critical eye?
Most of us continue to live under the burden of that critical eye of our parents and it stops us from embracing our true purpose. This is not to say that one should wish death on his/her parents but rather that in life, the people closest to us are sometimes the ones that stop us from going the distance towards our innermost desires. Negative energy can come from anywhere. You have to shut it down even if it means cutting off people who are very close to you.
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It is evident that we cannot get the kind of information that is important for our posterity through media bodies that make their money by inoculating the masses, keeping them in the dark and under control. Schools won't help either.
Hip Hop provides that avenue for the truth or at least it can be the trigger for us to go searching for it on our own. But when our artists are blinded by the promises of fame and money in exchange for drowning the truth, what are we left with?
The world is suffering from physical pollution, social polarization, and psychological impotence; all ingredients for global degradation and modernized misery of which the current state of our society is testament.
So
Can we all use the power given to us in the wit of our tongues for the betterment of our society or do we want to continue chasing the wind in false hopes of one day being invited to sit amongst the 3000.
Now, take some time to listen to track here --->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEgqZ1QmMdY&feature=youtu.be
Kudos to the Producer Method J by the way.
- Tino Foy