The Soft Power of Alpha Better Records: How Collaboration Shapes Cameroonian Music
This piece examines how Alpha Better Records, under Salatiel's leadership, has built influence in Cameroonian urban music through strategic collaboration rather than coercion. By tracing the label's fingerprint across releases by artists like Ewube and Daphne—through writing, production, mixing, and features—the writer argues that quality and networked presence, not power alone, have become the label's greatest asset.
Soft Power:- The ability to attract and co-opt, rather than coerce. It is the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. (wikipedia)
I’ve been more or less a fan of Ewube. I mean, I didn’t run to click on any of her new releases over the years, but I did listen. I did listen to the point that I found her very interesting on Liinx’s “K-Town” with Mic Monsta. I also listened to “Stay” which I really liked. And recently, I have been listening to “C’est Toi,” her first song under her new label, Stevens Music.
In fact, I have listened to it so much so that I have shared it, not only here on this platform, but also to many of my personal friends. To say the least, it is no doubt my favourite Ewube song...thus far, and I think it is also her most resonating record too. And as it stands, the reason for this is not a mystery; Alpha Better Records.
The entire song has the fingerprint of Alpha Better on it. It is written by Mr Leo, produced by Big Joe and mixed by Blaise B. As a matter of fact, all of Daphne’s (another Steven’s Music product) last releases has the fingerprint of Alpha Better Records on it too. I’m talking Doucement, Jusqu’a la gare, Calee, Ne laches pas, My Lover and Promets-moi. I’ve said many times here that Daphne is currently our biggest music export and for Steven’s Music to entrust six of her songs to one production house is a testament of trust.
I’m sure there are other examples but the only example that comes to my mind of that kind of collaboration is Jay-Z trusting the production of his entire last album to No I.D. If you are familiar with the Wu-Tang Clan you would also know about the impact of The RZA on the individual group members’ productions.
Mais revenons à nos moutons.
Alpha Better Records, under the leadership of Salatiel has become one of the most respected and respectable labels around. In one of our articles here (link below), we explained how Salatiel has understood the distinction between the music and the music business and how anyone who wanted to go into music needed to learn about these two things, drawing examples from Salatiel.
It is why in the title of this article, I talked about the soft power of Alpha Better records. Salatiel has known how to dot the Is and cross the Ts to grow his label into something that everyone wants to work with. If you think that is exaggerated, go and ask Beyonce.
But soft power doesn’t come from wielding power. It comes from understanding the environment, adapting to it and putting in the work to produce the best quality you can put out there. What better quality has Alpha Better put out other than Mr Leo, who is one of our most bankable urban music today; second, perhaps to Daphne only.
And it not just in Mr Leo’s solo releases. Look at the many collaborations he has done with Locko, Fanicko, Kerozen, Flavour, Sessime, Wax Dey… I am sure you can others to that list.
These multiple presences of Mr Leo across multiple songs each one as good as the other spread the Alpha Better brand across many different spaces. Even his two new proteges, Kameni and Gomez have that Alpha Better smell on them.
It would seem that this soft power has had as the main reason for its success one thing, in particular, COLLABORATION. I’m talking about writing, production, mixing and mastering, and features.
Via its collaborative efforts and its own quality productions, the Alpha Better house has been growing the sort of soft power that is permeating the industry and is beginning to wield serious and significant influence. And with the recent collaboration of Salatiel with Beyonce, let's just say that influence has taken a great leap forward.
One thing about Nigerians and why they seem to be ahead of everyone else is because they have this kind of soft power. Nigerians are the most represented Africans diasporans in the world. Everywhere you go, you will find Nigerians; up to 3rd generations. This means that over time, they have been able to embed themselves into the fabric of just about every creative space. As someone was explaining, if you go to vogue, you will likely see a Nigerian placed high up somewhere that will be ready to showcase another Nigerian creative. Look at all the artists, curators, photographers, designers that are Nigerians. Most of them are of Nigerian origin or are immigrants.
The recent popularity of Afrobeats has made them even more demanded and proud of their origin and they are now using their soft power (their presence everywhere and high places) to be able to pull other Nigerian creatives into just about everything they can pull them into.
Alpha Better already has this soft power and has been using it to put good quality into urban music coming out of Cameroon. With Saltiel’s recent collaboration, he is going to be even more in demand. We can only imagine how that is going to work out in all of our favours.
And when you think Salatiel was unknown just six years ago...this life enh...crazy!
-Wandji Wilfred.
https://www.facebook.com/poisesocial/photos/a.1510421388996142/1750294285008850/?type=3&theater
Ewube's pic by @Studio_89
The post appears written in mid-2019, when Afrobeats was gaining global visibility and Cameroonian artists were navigating their position within broader West African music movements. It reflects a moment when production infrastructure and label strategy were becoming as important as individual artistry, and when cross-border African creative networks were intensifying.
The piece articulates a then-emergent insight: that soft power—presence, reputation, and collaborative reach—matters as much as commercial muscle in building a music industry ecosystem. It remains relevant because it identifies how mid-sized producers and labels can punch above their weight by understanding quality, trust, and strategic partnerships, a model that has only become more central to creative industries globally. The analogy to Nigerian diaspora networks also speaks to how Cameroonian creatives must think about their own positioning within African and global creative spaces.