Rinyu: A Coup de Cœur Musicale
The writer celebrates the discovery of Rinyu, a Cameroonian musician signed to AKUMBA Music, whose fusion of Afropop and Afrojazz joins a lineage of niche, distinctive female artists reshaping the country's musical landscape. The piece praises both her artistry and her label's serious commitment to her development and promotion.
Not since my piece on Joyce Babatunde, Share’on Konfor, or Vernyuy Tina have been this excited to write an article about an artiste I recently discovered.
For the most observant of you reading this already, you must have immediately noticed something particular about the three people I just mentioned above. They are all women, to begin with, and their musical genre is very tangential to the mainstream music that we have on the market today. They are playing in a niche playground and their different quirks, peculiarities, and sonority put them in an entirely different league.
And oddly enough, each one of them is unique in their own style as well. Each one of them is a sub-category within a category.
Rinyu is another person we can add to that list. I discovered Rinyu on Simi’s page. She participated in the “Duduke challenge” and got a flurry of comments from Simi’s followers, so similar was her rendition to Simi’s own. A little drove of Nigerians went to her YouTube to see the complete video of her cover of ‘Duduke,’ and so did I.
It was there that I knew that not only was Rinyu Cameroonian, but also that she was also signed to a label and had some music out on her YouTube channel, none of which left me indifferent – one of which is a Christmas-themed song written and composed by her. That same day, I shared a song of hers, right here.
Rinyu joins the line of musicians like Gasha, Kareyce Fotso, Joyce, Share’On, and Vernyuy Tina to propose something that adds richly to the musical palette of Cameroon.
Her style? It is a fusion of Afropop and Afrojazz; an interesting melange that brings the eclectic nature of jazz, the grounded-ness of Afro music, and the mass appeal of Afropop music. It is a really interesting cocktail and as she continues to push forward in this fashion, it will only be a matter of time before she gains a wide appeal, and a very strong, core fanbase.
Pretty much like Simi.
It is also important to give props to her label, AKUMBA Music, that is doing its best to market their artiste. Between her activities and interactions on her social media pages, the adverts on social media, her music videos, and her live participations on music promotion platforms like her live performance (with a full band) on Bimstr, you HAVE to give props to her team. It shows that they are serious about her and want to give her the best to thrive. Some of her productions even carry the signature of PhilBill.
You can check out her songs: Marry Me, Dreamy Eyes, and Chakara Love on Youtube. I’ll put the links in the comments.
Good luck to you, Rinyu
- Wandji Wilfred.
In 2020, Cameroon's music scene was increasingly defined by artists working outside mainstream commercial formulas, often gaining initial visibility through social media and cross-border African platforms. The writer situates Rinyu within a deliberate community of women musicians—Joyce Babatunde, Share'on Konfor, Vernyuy Tina, Kareyce Fotso, and Gasha—each carving distinctive paths rather than chasing trending sounds.
The piece articulates a quiet conviction that artistic distinctiveness and label discipline matter as much as viral moments. It remains relevant as a record of how discovery and reputation-building worked in the social-media-first era, and as evidence of Poise's attentiveness to artists operating with integrity in neglected spaces. The writer's faith in Rinyu's trajectory—and in AKUMBA Music's seriousness—reads now as a snapshot of belief in African independent music before many of these ecosystems matured.