TIPTOPSTARS

Ashu-Ayem Hope Tambe’s hope has always been to impact the world through his God-given talent – singing. But little did he know he was going to approach the apex so soon, when he launched his music adventure way back at the St Joseph College, SJC, Sasse, West Cameroon’s first denominational school. Then, he could only write songs, admire them, but would not go further than that. Melcube, as Hope Tambe has later become then started noticing the twilight of success, when he pushed further this music dream with other high school mates at the Bilingual Grammer School, BGS Molyko Buea. With this group of friends, Melcube told Nexdim Show, they created The Gentle Family, a band that won wide admiration.

In as much as his LLB (first degree in Law) makes him a well-prepared debutant in the world of legal issues, Melcube’s singing prowess puts the young Cameroon at an enviable place as far as music is concerned. Today, the University of Buea graduate cum singer is one of Cameroon’s hope-rising Rap/hip-Hop artistes who are increasing attracting more fans and winning a most-deserved fame. That Melcube shines with a bright future is no doubt a perfect reality. “He’s one of my favourite young artistes now – he’s just so talented and I strongly believe he is on his way to make it,” a Melcube fan told TIPTOPSTARS recently.

Perhaps, Say It, his latest single tells the truth about Melcube’s real rapping prowess. Watch his live performance with BAAM’s Mabel at the French Cultural Centre (CCF) Douala and you would go with a very impressive impression about the young musician. Say It is a popular track in his first album Lotus SP (Short Play), made up of other soul-searching songs including, Back On It, Like in The Movies, Love Night, Take the Lead and Down Low. But to get a complete taste of the young rapper’s talent, make a stop-over at any Kamer Attitude sales point in Buea or Douala.

For one thing, determination runs in Melcube’s veins – a song like Take the Lead tells you the young artiste has well-coined ambitions he is ready to fulfill. He even makes genuine attempts at production, having produced a Buea-based group of artistes .

In just eight years, Melcube has harvested great honours his peers are proud of. Just a year old on stage at the time, Melcube won the best artiste award at the Up-In-Smoke Rap/Hip Hop Competition in 2005. Then, the Buea-based artiste stayed on a comfortable third spot for eight weeks on the Teenage Rampage Top 10 broadcast on one of Africa’s leading entertainment TV stations, Africa Magic. “That was awesome and I was really proud of Melcube and glad to be a Cameroonian,” a Melcube fan, now living in the USA told us.

Melcube humbly thinks he has just begun. “I got so much stuff for you,” he promised while speaking on Nexdim Show some time ago. Watch out for this future ambassador of Cameroon in the world of music. TIPTOPSTARS will be publishing an interview with Melcube in subsequent updates.