On Honest Support and the False Doctrine of Obligation

Salatiel’s recent collaboration with Beyonce has opened the floodgates of something I really really hate to hear, which is “support your own.” Just about everyone has been banging it on the drums and not letting my eardrums rest in the process. I think I wasn’t very unnerved by it until I saw a tweet by one of our urban musicians and I decided to pen this down.

The thing is, this “support your own” nonsense is probably one of the most dishonest things I see around in the music industry; and for two main reasons.

1. It is used chiefly as some form of emotional blackmail to somewhat trick people into consuming musical products that they otherwise would not. It is nothing but emotional arm-twisting. It goes in line with when people say “if it were Jennifer Lopez that was singing this song, you guys will make it trend, but now that it is Daphne, you guys do not support you own.” Personally, when I see something like that, I am instead pushed not to give the other musician a listen.

2. Be not fooled, this support your own is nothing but a covert operation for the ridiculous obsession of breaking into the Nigerian music market. Every rant you see by any artiste online about not having support is partially pent-up frustration over that fact. And what is this ridiculous obsession with breaking into the Naija market anyway? Is there a trophy for that? Are we going to collectively make it to musical heaven if Nigerian DJs start playing our songs? Why do we need validation from Nigerians??

And this is not a theory, this is fact. Just look at how many of our music videos have people dancing shaku shaku in them. Cameroon is such a diverse country with diverse dances. How is it an issue to draw inspiration from these?

Ironically, we have gained the Francophone African market and yet very few people seem to focus on that. Just take a look at how many feats Mr Leo has done with other musicians from Francophone Africa. Why do we seem to forgive this blessing?

Another thing is people complaining about trends…”oh! Our music is not trending in Nigeria!....Oh! Why is this music not trending?”

You know the problem with trends? They are just trends. They do not last.

If Sam Fam Thomas, Toto Guillaume, Salle John, Pierre Didi Tchakounte, Talla Andre Marie and Henri Njoh, wanted to make trendy music, today we will not have a huge discography bequeathed to us to draw inspiration from. We are so worried about making music that will capture people’s attention for a few seconds and less worried about music that is making a lasting impact.

That is where Jovi is faaaaar ahead of almost everyone else in this industry.

I do not support my own because I have to support my own. I don’t owe any artiste sh!t and neither do you. Best believe if your music is not to my taste, I do not owe it to you to promote it because I am Cameroonian.

If I, Wandji Wilfred, were given two envelopes today; One containing two million frs to buy a ticket to a Jay Z concert, and one containing 3 million to buy a ticket to a Ko-C concert, it's not even a competition. Jay Z is taking my money and Ko-C is getting a middle finger. Forget that Jay Z doesn't even need my money.

But on the flip side, if the same scenario were presented to me but with Jay Z vs Jovi, I will be in a bit of a dilemma. Just like Jigga, I have all of Jovi’s albums. Just like The Blueprint, I know almost every word of every song on the Mboko God album. Both artistes have made a lasting impact on me. Jay Z might be a more gifted rapper and might put on a better show, but I will, after much thought, give Jovi my money. At this point, supporting my own makes sense to me because I have a strong reason to do so.

Recently someone sent me a link to vote for the best song on Beyonce’s “The Lion King” album. I voted for the song Tiwa Savage sang. Surprise! You expected me to vote for Salatiel, right? Oh que non! I voted for what me, as an individual liked. But does that take away my support for Salatiel, no! He is a genius musician whom I have the utmost respect for. And we have written articles praising him and shared his music here. But in this particular instance, I, as an individual felt someone did better than him and merited my vote.

We need to learn to be honest with ourselves.

Artistes have to learn that we, the fans do not owe them anything. We only ask that they give us good music and stop singing in playback at concerts. I do not want to buy a 5,000frs ticket to hear you singing over your music. That is madness at its peak.

Artistes also need to learn to grow their community. They need to learn to stop living in silos and interact with their community. They need to learn to do proper PR and stop feeling butthurt when someone does a negative review or calls them out. They need to study the dynamics of the market and have to understand that they cannot win all the market. Above all, they need to make GOOD music. Music that does not seek a trend, but is meant to be perennial.

At PoiseSocial, we are not even at 10k followers yet, but we know that our content is not for everyone and we are fine with it. If we were posting screenshots of online beef and rappers complaining about people complaining about their sagging breasts, we would likely be at 70K followers. But that’s not what interests us. We also know that if we organise an event, it is likely that just 150 people will show up. Online love never translates to real love. We are not fooled. Please shoot me if you see me complaining about people reading our content but not supporting us. Many artistes need to learn that following does not translate to conversion.

Yes, support your own. But only if you feel your support is merited.

- Wandji Wilfred