TIPTOPSTARS

Very rare are young Cameroonian musicians who do not only venture into folkloric genres, but sing brilliantly in their mother tongue. Contemporary music, marked by brands such as Hip-Hop, Rap, etc has influenced the careers of scores of youths to the extent that few of them consider their roots. Even singers who do not reside in big towns and cities have found more pleasure with urban music than anything else. This has left indigenous music in an alarmingly oblivious back seat.

However, the handful of artists who have consolidated their stand with root music have displayed an exciting commitment which is easily noticed each time they spring with a production. Just like Richard Kings, Ateh Bazore, Wara Festus, etc, Lily Meka fits squarely in this category. She is young, yet so conscious of her roots and the beauty of her cultural background.

Lily, from Bui Division in the North West region of Cameroon is a fast-coming sensation her country and Africa as a whole will soon be proud to show to the rest of the world. “I’m proud of my culture and I think it is my responsibility to promote it via the art I know best. That’s why I sing in lamso, my mother tongue,” the USA-based musician told Afrikka Radio’s African Cocktail during a recent interview.

According to the talented singer who is amazingly fluent in English and French, her passion for music dates back to her childhood when she would do playbacks mimicking renowned female artists including the legendary Anne Marie Ndzie. “My community saw this talent in me and encouraged me greatly,” she told TIPTOPSTARS.

Lily who just moved to the United States and is poised to make major strides in her career has a beautifully packaged album to her credit. The six-track album has songs that exploit salient themes including the fight against malaria, known to be one of Africa’s most deadly diseases. In the track, United Against Malaria, the singer urges everyone to put hands on deck and combat malaria. Other songs in the album are Ver Sherri Woo Tatah, Koo Va Ve Sin, Ever Since I Met You, For The One, and Homage (For Mama).

Reactions, mostly endorsing a decision to suspend foreign music from the CRTV FM 105 Suelaba airwaves, at least for the first halve of the day, have been streaming in since the announcement was made earlier on Sunday. The Station Manager, Beyhia Leonard Bruce told citizens on social media it was time to start promoting ‘our own’, referring to Cameroonian music.

Overtly stating that we have failed in doing so, the journalist who is well known to have a penchant for his country’s entertainment sector regretted that while other countries have promoted theirs, Cameroonians have killed what belongs to them. “When we travel, we see how bad we kill our own,” he put. It therefore requires the braveness of someone, somewhere, to change the order, the radio manger stated.

In changing the order therefore, Beyhia has said he will be urging other local radio managers to embark on a similar move.

Scores of reactions have supported the decision which certainly is the content of a service note TIPTOPSTARS may eventually be served with. To citizens on social media, it is the right move in the right direction. “I’m totally in agreement with you on this. It makes business sense and promotes local artists…You have made a revolutionary opportunity for local artists and given them reason to work harder. You are a visionary leader…,” one of the reactions held.

According to the decision, the manager of Cameroon’s second commercial radio station (created after FM 94 in Yaounde) said, foreign music will be muted on the airwaves from 5am to 11:59am from now till May 20. “It could be aired from midnight to 4:59am,” Beyhia pointed out. As part of the decision, maiden albums by local artists will be aired for 50 percent promotion cost during this broadcast and will occupy day-play with older artists who will be aired for free.

Giving priority to local music on Cameroonian radio stations has been a very topical issue since the liberalization of the audio-visual sector in April 2000. The law to this effect had clauses that obliged radio and TV stations to provide a bigger portion of music airtime to local productions, but the ironically strong influence of foreigner genres has been a stumbling block to this. Consequently, fewer outfits have respected this and Cameroonians have rather been overdosed with foreign music to the extent that local music has taken an oblivious position in the country’s media.

The quagmire even became unbearable, causing some local artists to openly vent their anger against what they described as an ironical discrimination – favouring foreign music at the expense of their own. Isolated cases of local musicians who stopped their music from being played on some radio stations as a way of protesting were reported.

The latest decision by the Station Manager of FM 105 is seen as a strong reminder that something needs to be done to get Cameroonian productions back on the rails. TIPTOPSTARS will be talking to Cameroonian musicians. Their views on this will be published in our subsequent updates.

"Networking is marketing. Marketing yourself, marketing your uniqueness, marketing what you stand for" Comaford-Lynch

The second edition of the SIPEC networking events is about to kick off in a few days. Launched in January at the White House Restaurant in Bonapriso, in just a short space of time SIPEC is creating an impact in the Cameroon business milieu as the must go to forum for business support and advice.

The initiative seeks to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in Cameroon through identifying entrepreneurs and small businesses and creating a platform whereby their services can be marketed in a fun and light hearted way.

A brainchild of Etonde Martin and hosted by her events management company Sheraiz Delightz – SIPEC an acronym for “Sherai’s Initiative for Promoting Entrepreneurs in Cameroon” was inspired by her stay and consequent revisit to the blossoming city of Nairobi in Kenya.

“I was blown away by how much Kenya had changed when I visited in 2013. The economic activity had given the country a face-lift. I also discovered my school friends had moved up too, some working and most running their own businesses.” Etonde states

“What really struck me was a particular friend who created a once a month forum assisting small businesses with the aid of sponsorship from larger companies. Through her initiative, she has been able to assist and make successful business people out of small artists.” She further adds.

SIPEC 2 will be held at the elegant Star Land Hotel in Bonapriso on April 29^th backed by an array of businesses from different fields such as Rainbow Sports Investments, Teks Design, Graffi, SmartTrack, CRTV, FabAfriq Magazine, STV, Leading Industrial Supplier/Loire Industrie Sud (LIS), Ecobank, Thonbs, AVT Media, AJC Graphic, White House Restaurant, ModeMaison PR among others. The event will focus specifically on the topic of overcoming barriers for doing business in Africa and Cameroon in particular, led by a guest speaker.

“Through SIPEC, our partners will gain exposure, new clients, and new suppliers, finance, mentoring and coaching. We have customised solutions for our partners.” Etonde explains.

For more information on their events, please visit: www.sipec.co.uk

Twitter: @sipeccameroon

Facebook: sipecetonde

PRESS RELEASE BY:

Within the past decade, there have been endless efforts to reverse a running, yet vexing impression that Africa is nothing positive but everything one would hate to love. If it is not war, it is starvation from accrued hunger. If it is disease, it is the lack of portable water. If it is not battered democracy, it is poor infrastructure. The list continues. These images, promoted by western TV have along the years stuck on the minds of people who have never had the chance to visit the Africa and in the process scores of them have reversed plans of ever doing so.

Yet, Africa is synonymous to beauty, communal spirit, captivating natural scenery, variety of fauna and flora, 5 Star hotels, fresh wind at soft sandy beaches, gorgeous traditional outfit, irresistible cuisine, soul-searching music, academic prowess, intellectual capacity. The list is endless. It is other part of the continent western media, observers say, have deliberately ignored.

Continuously making the world know Africa is these things and more is what several entities have embarked on, including African Money, an ongoing- afro-party concept that has covered much ground as far as this course is concerned. Through parties, African Money celebrates the continents varied achievements in a bid to encourage sons and daughters of Africa to work even harder and make it a place to be. When they come together, Africans of the hosting city share experiences and plans for further development of the continent in a relaxed setting.

This year, they will converge on the German city of Frankfurt for the same purpose - AFRICAN MONEY – EDITION GERMANY. Organizers have told TIPTOPSTARS that the 2014 edition will be powered by EBONY-EVENT (a rising Germany-based event agency founded by young Cameroonians) and AMPlus Events (founder of the concept African Money). Entry at the Friday May 2 event will cost visitors just a 15 Euro fee.

For its four years of existence, African Money has moved to different cities including Montreal (Canada), Bordeaux, Lille and Lyon (France) Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Brazzaville (Congo), Douala and Yaounde (Cameroon), Dakar (Senegal) and Libreville (Gabon).

INFOLINE & RESERVATION : +49 (0) 17624737840

VENUE : SkyClub Frankfurt

ADRESS : Düsseldorfer Straße 1-7, 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Germany