The Chrysalis Trap: Why Cameroonian Aspiring Musicians Remain Unfinished
A musician reflects on the structural and psychological obstacles preventing emerging artists in Cameroon from reaching professional success—complacency, entitlement, underfunding, and fragmented industry collaboration. The piece names these patterns without excuse, and calls for individual accountability as the first step toward transformation.
From the Grace Deccas to today's Daphnes, the music industry in Cameroon has metamorphosed over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, in recent times, very few talents have been able to reach the butterfly stage. Most of us are either stuck at the egg, larva or at a perpetual pupa stage (almost there but not quite there yet). As an aspiring artist who has worked behind the scenes for a while, I have noticed the self-destructive patterns hindering our transformation into the glorious butterfly.
Let's examine a few, shall we?
Our first issue as upcoming artists is complacency. A good number of upcoming artists are talented and skilled, while the rest are neither talented nor skilled. Most upcoming artists hardly acknowledge their lack of skill or talent. Most are incorrigible. We all want to want to be superstars (some think they already are) but most are either unaware of or unwilling to do the work it takes.
I don't just mean attending shows, melting brains with horrible music, photoshoots and all the glamour that comes with showbiz. That part is quite easy. I'm talking about vocal exercises, dance lessons, attending music seminars and research, inter alia. The closest we come to behind-the-scenes work is listening to popular songs and making their cheapest replicas.
The next challenge upcoming and aspiring artists have is a sense of entitlement. We think because we recorded a song and did a video for it, the world should fall at our feet. This is not usually the case. Sometimes your first release goes viral and other times you get an audience of 100 after your 30th release. Case in point, Vernuy Tina's releases prior to the collab with Tzy Panchack had far less attention than after the featuring.
We fail to realize that excellence cannot be rushed. The craze for instant fame blinds us to the longevity that organic growth can yield..
Another challenge budding artistes face is the lack of funding. Just as the caterpillar needs adequate nutrition to mutate, so does the upcoming artist need funds to execute their releases. To be honest, standard music production and distribution is quite costly. At certain stages of project execution, very little can be done without ample financial input. Unfortunately, many upcoming artists, depend on imaginary, soon-coming sponsors and do not actively seek ways to generate income to sustain them and possibly invest in their music.
Additionally, insufficient collaboration in the music industry is a real challenge for upcoming artists. Actors in the industry (producers, video directors, artists, fashion, and beauty entrepreneurs, event organisers) haven't quite figured out how to work together without the instant gratification of short term financial gain, to achieve long term success.
Since two or more heads are always better than one (well, depending on the kind of heads), disunity is a real setback because we all miss out on the opportunity to collectively create amazing art that has the potential to attract the fame and fortune we all desire.
Now, although it seems like I'm mostly blaming the artists for their predicament, I am fully aware of the intricate frustrations of unappreciated talent. The goal here is not to shame upcoming artists but draw our attention to the vital role we could play in changing our luck for the better.
So, I implore you to do yourself a favour. Ditch the excuses and prepare to brave whatever odds stand in the way of your complete transformation. If you can acknowledge that transmutation starts from within, you're halfway there. After all, if you do not do what it takes to become the best version of you, who will?
- Bella Charis
Part two of this article with proposed solutions will be published tomorrow, Stay tuned.
Photo by: Lechon Kirb
Written in 2019, this reflects a moment when Cameroon's music industry was growing in visibility and streaming accessibility, yet most emerging talents struggled to translate local attention into sustainable careers. The piece speaks to a generation of young artists navigating informal patronage systems, social media exposure, and the gap between creative ambition and professional infrastructure.
Then, it offered a rare critical self-examination from within the artist community—neither self-pity nor uncritical cheerleading, but a direct diagnosis. Now, as streaming and informal digital distribution have further flattened barriers to entry, the writer's core insight remains sharp: access to platforms does not equal readiness, and the gap between visibility and craft remains the real bottleneck. The metamorphosis metaphor gives weight to what might otherwise be scolding.