TIPTOPSTARS

Bertoua, Cameroon: October 30, 2015 was a special day in the lives of the over 40 toddlers at La Fondation Marie France orphanage in Nkolbiton, Bertoua. The kids were honored front row guests at a cultural evening organized by The Fomunyoh Foundation.  

The cultural evening was animated by Rhumsiki Choir Cameroon. Music enthusiasts would remember that this choir, renowned for their blends of gospel, bikutsi, and Cameroonian popular music has earned several distinctions in and out of Cameroon

Speaking during the event, Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, President of The Fomunyoh Foundation- TFF   said the foundation was committed to the needs of children in Cameroon especially orphans, reason why he and his team were spending the evening with the kids at La Fondation Marie France . He assured the orphanage of the continuous support of The Fomunyoh Foundation. He guaranteed the kids that, in him, they had a father. TFF donated books and gifts to La Fondation Marie France.

La Fondation Marie France  was founded in 2003 by Sister Marie France Mzandari . In response to the gifts and fellowship from The Fomunyoh Foundation the Fondation Marie France kids sang a touching “Thank You Papa” song to Dr. Christopher Fomyunoh

Where words leave off, music begins.

Steveslil is a musician whose tracks and videos you can easily be caught listening to or watching multiple times without any intension of stopping, once you have been exposed to them. Reason: the masterpieces are crafted such that they glue on the music taste bud. Every consumer of the Douala-based artist’s music would present this impression with no reservation if they were asked to give an appraisal of the latter.

The just-released video of Diana, Steveslil’s latest Single, squarely fits into this description of the young singer’s music. It’s simply a sublime! “I’ve been on it since it was released – what a beautifully made video!” Soreille, an Ohio-based Cameroonian fan of the artist told TIPTOPSTARS. “This is music you that permeates your soul with no remorse, I just love it immeasurably,” she went further.

To Falton, Steveslil did what he is commonly known for doing once more time. Also speaking from the USA, the Atlanta-based Cameroonian explained that Diana is a video which demonstrates Cameroon’s pleasant maturity in the art of music, an impression that has been trending of late. Speaking to TIPTOPSTARS, Falton said in French: “La video de Diana nous montre que le Cameroun avance vite dans l’art musicale.”

Analyzing Diana from Johannesburg, South Africa, media personality, Solomon Atah who doubles are art and culture critic writes: “The use of red tones in the video and the allowance of uncertainty is indeed a careful artistic interpretation of how the director sees this future. Red maintains its presence announcing danger and presents necessity that helps expresses the passion, laden with danger when it comes to love. This shows that love and hope merge in tandem and it’s in the air. Either way, the viewers goes away satisfied that the love relations stands a chance as we see towards end of film the use of camera lens blare and rays of light strong enough to allow for it to be noticed. It’s a happy one.”

Meantime, just three days after its release, Diana has attracted considerable attention on social media with 2,076 at press time. “Wow, my favourite song – this is how Camer should represent”, “Super, super, my Nguti boy, ride on – love from Texas”, “Very impressed I must say”. These and more are some of the comments from viewers of Diana on YouTube.

Before Diana, Steveslil had spoiled his fans with two other sassy Singles – Ebangha and I Cut U Café which still occupy comfortable spots in the music their minds.

Directed by Didi Blaise, the 4.18-minutes long Afro-pop video is filmed by the indefatigable Dr Nkeng Stephens, known for his ingenuity in music videos. This is noticed in scores of other works in recent past. Diana is produced by Emile Ngumbah, one of the country’s leading sound engineers who has brought scores of young English-speaking Cameroonian singers to the limelight including Achalle, Dr Sley, Adele Clarice, Bemo, Mabel, etc.

This piece opens with the grandeur of lush vegetation of where the characters play out the daily theatre of music. This is maintained until we see our first character of this film. The text of title “Diana” is in white as well as our immediate character, this allows the viewer to see the future. Here the viewer is transported with this white colour of purity to imagine a beautiful future. This future is enhanced when you see the sky, similarly white in tone. It’s cleverly contrasting where a character is in a white toned shirt stands in response to the rhythmic tunes. The female character, in synch with the main character is seen smiling in response too, here the viewer can understand and appreciate that future represented by the tones of white colour. Her broad smiles silhouettes into the surroundings, confirming that she is one with her environment and off course this can show that she indeed believes in what the male character is saying in the lyrics. It’s truer as the director deploys one of a favourite cinematic tool, which is merging scenario and character to confirm the lyrics.

There are dual smiles from both introductory characters. Here the director again emphasizes on the future, and the aspect of hope through a carful lower angle in which we see the future in the form of the white toned sky. As we progressed past the first minute of the film, there is a shared moment of laughter; this denotes clear joy and enjoyment from both lovers. The other characters too are introduced, there are seen in hyped danced moves. Movement is deployed from director, situating the rhythm with the pace, it’s carefully handled that one is immerse in trance as they experience the cinema and the music, yet aware through form of the lyrics. The props of circular necklaces from the lead male character and the hand gestures are assurances of love. The use of close up tied in seamless movement of camera including the maintained rhythm of song, these are combined tools to enhance the aesthetics, leaving the background out of focus also denotes the dreamy natures of their tomorrows or emphasis the uncertainty aspects of life as a whole.

As the film moves through the midway mark, white is again brought into focus through the checkered board, two things are clear here, one; the uncertainty of tomorrow or the future and two; the fact that life is as experienced by two lovers requires that each plays their part. The use of space and time is careful, almost economical but allows the viewer to immerse even further into the film’s clever aesthetic. Yellow tones that may be seen as revolutionary and promising are contrasted with green tones worn by the two female dancers. Here the masculine optimism can be read into the yellow tones from the male lead character and the greens worn by the female dancers reinforces yet merges with the background, in random synchronicity It can tell the viewer how the female agency in the film is often seen to be grounded, one with it’s environment.

The evolutionary state of the film maintains close up deployment of it as a cinematic tool for the purposes of pointing to the randomness of life. It lingers into the bar where it really gets dreamy. The use of red tones and the allowance of uncertainty is indeed a careful artistic interpretation of how the director sees this future. Red maintains its presence announcing danger and presents necessity that helps expresses the passion, laden with danger when it comes to love and show that love and hope merge in tandem and its in the air. Either way, the viewers goes away certified that the love relations stands a chance as we see towards end of film the use of camera lens blare and rays of light strong enough to allow for it to be noticed. It’s a happy one.

Editor’s Note

Solomon Atah is a refined writer and speaker who participates profoundly on the media platform and contributes enormously to the development of the civil society sector in Africa. The Johannesburg-based multifaceted young Cameroonian critically appreciates art works and makes brilliant analysis. Atah who possesses a sharp pen in film analysis author of #HelpHope 7 Quantum Humanomics, published recently and now in circulation.

Ernest Kanjo

That the Cameroonian music landscape is currently experiencing a reawakening is no longer news. From an easy look of things, there is a glaring revival which now seems to be the best thing happening in the country’s art and culture domain. The coming into the limelight of scores of talented young people who display a satisfactory mastery in the art of singing, is fast becoming phenomenal and it is hope that the current twist of things may turn tables to an extent that Cameroon will hit the world music map once again.

But prior to this new dispensation, it is common knowledge that Cameroon’s music sector almost went into slumber. In fact, it had at one point in time fallen into a deep and very disheartening fit. This most-dreaded episode in the country’s one-time leading art domain came with its own ugly consequences one of which was the disturbing disappearance of some music icons who had held the baton and commanded the sector in an enviable manner.

As those impact-full voices faded away into the doldrums, they took away the inspiration on which the younger generation could thrive in order to keep the sector alive. A new generation came up, not being able to trace the smooth route that had led Cameroon to a glorious past that was at one time and perhaps still being regurgitated with a lot of nostalgia.

The big names had literally evaporated – great compositions that put Cameroon on the music apex melted out – makossa, the country’s one-time identity genre suffered a big blow and hopes almost dashed away intrinsically. That was that ill-fated consequence of an art and culture sector that had witnessed avoidable setbacks.

At one point, it was thought that the younger music folks, for lack of guidance from their legends, won’t be able to trace their way. How could they produce results as rich and enviable as the ones their predecessors had had? How were they going to engage smooth rides that would ferry them to resounding successes when the forefathers who could facilitate the job for them had unfortunately gone moribund? Was this new generation going to start things all over? If that was going to be the case, what were we going to do about the relics? How were the fallen pieces going to be gathered – how were they going to be picked up? Who was going to pick them? The questions became disturbingly endless.

However, since there is always a silver lining in every dark cloud, a few Cameroonian music legends stayed afloat and could not afford to see the sector quickly go down the drain. To them, the art was so valuable to them and their country to extents that letting it go was going to be tantamount to silencing a very pivotal aspect in the lives of a music loving people as Cameroonians.

One of such national heroes is makossa maestro Prince Ndedi Eyango who during the rainy days of the country’s music, proposed that we needed to turn to a new page. His “On tourne le page” philosophy in one of his tracks is a direct link with the singer’s brilliant consistency and his later option to become a veritable godfather to this new generation that sprang with hope, in spite of trading on difficult grounds.

As a passionate contribution to keep the country’s music waxing on, Prince Eyango resisted the stormy days hurricane, stood firm on the play button and kept the songs flowing. Even when he relocated to the United States, Eyango’s music inspirations stayed intact. From the States, he unleashed more captivating pieces that consolidated his ever leading position in the industry. But the makossa icon, from a look of things is a glaring example of selflessness. He is one rare professional who would not find any gain in savoring hard-earned glory all by himself. In him, you clearly see a spirit of sharing and paving the way for the young to grow.

From all indications, Prince Eyango quickly understood that for Cameroon to consolidate its long-time comfortable front seat in the continent’s music train, the succeeding generation had to be prepared and empowered with the necessary tools that would enable them function properly. That’s why all the younger musicians he has invested his professional know-how in, have demonstrated an exceptionally brilliant performance in the sector. And if these beneficiaries have equally been described as some of the sector’s geniuses, it is largely thanks to the torchlight provided by this legend. The Longue Longues, the Tanus Foes, the Jacky Kingues, the Junior Eyangos, you name them have also been household names in their own respects, having been molded by the makosssa baobab.

Eyango through PREYA Music might have worked with artists who are much older than the C-Boyz for the same vision of giving Cameroon more talented singers. By deciding to take the responsibility of molding child singers, Eyango is simply indicating that it’s about time we start identifying talent from infancy and shaping it in order to produce far-reaching or call them excellent results. Two things are certain here – one: with a genius such as Eyango in the music lives of the C-Boyz, these child singers will undoubted be one of the best things that will happen to Cameroonian music in the nearest future and two: their episode with him would be source of new inspiration to other aspiring child singers.

Consequently, child singing which has hitherto been very uncommon in Cameroon’s music dictionary would gradually start meandering its way into the industry. Is Eyango’s example worth emulating? Yes! Why? The answer is simple – legacy is also when one sits back and admires the work they did being manifested in others.

On their part, as Resource Person number one on Apex 1 Radio in charge of Art and Cultural Affairs, Ken Shally Monette, puts it, the C-Boyz have to make their new mentor a proud legend by upholding professional music righteousness. This rectitude has to be imbibed from day one and from every indication the music duo is ready for the task. Who would not like to see a happy Prince Eyango, celebrating with all joy, the success story of successful musical grandchildren? A hero can only make other heroes!