Is Motherland Music Shortchanging Itself?

We were all introduced to Motherland Empire back in 2013 when its flagship artist, Stanley Enow burst onto the scene with what is no doubt Cameroon’s most recognised and successful hip hop song of our era.

Everything seemed promised for the best and most people, I am sure, were certain that this new label was soon going to have a long roster of musicians signed to it. At least that was what I hoped for.

But six years later, niet! Nothing has happened. Well, something has. Motherland signed an artiste in February of this year. But they might as well not have because odds are that you never knew about that until you read this. Right? I didn’t know about that either until I started doing research for this article.

Well, his name is Daicko. He is …should I say, a rapper? I really cannot tell. He is somewhere in between a rapper and a singer. His style is some singey-songey mumble rap stuff. Almost, basically a pale copy of what Booba, the French rapper has become. He has put out music under his new label, a song titled "Aimes-moi comme je suis." What is funny about this whole thing is the promotion that has gone into…well…. promoting Daicko.

Daicko's, first song under Motherland was released on July 12. I scrolled all through Stanley Enow’s Facebook timeline right up to that date and on the day the song was released, there was absolutely nothing on Stanley Enow’s Facebook. Instead, he was promoting his appearance at a concert in Congo.

As a matter of fact, the last time he mentioned Daicko was when he posted a teaser video of Daicko’s first single under Motherland on June 28. Then he published 3 photos of himself with Daicko on June 30th, backstage at the Damso concert in Douala. Nothing else till today (at least on Facebook and Instagram) has been posted about Daicko. It's no wonder the song has barely 7,000 views on YouTube.

Now, I’m not sure if Daicko has been dropped from the label or not, but if he hasn’t, I am surprised and shocked that one of the most recognisable labels in this country did such a paltry job of promoting their very first signee after Stanley Enow. In my last article titled “HAS STANLEY ENOW FINALLY FOUND HIS WAY” which I reposted about 10 days ago, Mambe Churchill said that Stanly Enow reminds him of P. Diddy.

I am not sure in what sense exactly, but if there is one thing anyone can agree about P Diddy, it is that no one, I repeat, NO ONE hypes and promotes an artist under his label as he does. From Biggie to Carl Thomas to 112, to Loon, to Danity Kane, no one does it like Diddy.

Which begs the question, is Motherland music shortchanging itself?

In the last 6 years that Motherland has existed, we have seen 4 main other labels come in and lui raffler la vedette. Alpha Better, Steven’s Music, Big Dreams and Empire Company. New Bell Music was already existing. I would leave it to you guys to tick the names off your fingers and count how many artistes these labels have brought up successfully.

So que-est-ce qui ne marche donc pas avec Motherland ?

On a Facebook live on 237Showbiz Facebook page back in April of 2018, when asked why he hadn’t signed any musicians, Stanley Enow said that his team was focused on working on his own projects and signing another act would be too much work for the team. He also said he did not want to sign another act and be in direct competition with them since the focus at the time was on his project.

I won’t lie, I thought that was one helluva an excuse.

Whatever the case may be, I personally feel bad that in these 6 years, no artiste has been able to come into Motherland music and gain from the exposure that Stanley Enow has. I really don’t count Daicko after that poor promotion.

Hate or love Stanley Enow, he is our most recognised urban act in Anglophone Africa and he has, via his personal lobbying and charm and charisma, gotten the attention of a lot of people in the industry both at home and abroad. He has some serious social currency that he can spend on the sooooo many talents we have around that are just waiting and begging for one opportunity to shine.

Staying this relevant as Stanley has whilst being disputed by so many on the grounds of the music is no small feat. Stanley has a good management team behind him, there is no question of that. I reckon a lot of young and talented acts can benefit from it.

And so far, the one person they have signed has not been given a morsel of an opportunity to be properly seen.

So, is Motherland Music shortchanging itself? I don’t know about you guys, but I'd say yes. When you look at what the other labels have done and how much they have contributed to the industry in a shorter time than Motherland has, there is no doubt about that answer.

The good thing is, it’s not too late for them to go back to the drawing board and change things.

- Wandji Wilfred.