TIPTOPSTARS

Music concerts or other related events are described as a failure if spectator turnout is drastically low. They can also be said to have failed if the general organization is poor – insufficient lighting, awful sound quality/system, below-standard performance, etc. However, none of these was the cause of the failure of the much-talked about and highly media-publicized B1 album launch that was supposed to have taken place in Maryland, USA, over the weekend.

Rather, the event failed in that it did not happen as planned, even when the stage had already been set for it. According to organizers, Laurel, MD Police stormed the venue and firmly instructed that the event which had just begun be stopped. Reasons – guests to the event were grossly more than the capacity of the hall and the said venue, according to police reports, was licensed to run only Church, not secular activities.

“I had no idea  that the venue could only host Church activities and so did not feel at any moment that we were violating the license policy,” B1 told TIPTOPSTARS when we reached the artist for explanation. “Rather, prior to mine, several other events of such nature had taken place there and I was part of some of them – it is unimaginable that the violation of policy should only come out when I was doing this particular event,” the singer doubted further. B1 told went ahead that his previous single, Ndolo Dance was launched in that same hall with no qualms.

Disappointed, some observers have suspected fowl play and think the album launch, described as one of Cameroon’s biggest event in the diaspora, at least as far as the first quarter of 2015 is concerned, was sabotaged. The Maryland-based Afro-styled singer however refused to lay blame on anyone. “It happens, so we take it as such and life continues. Even if there wasn’t a license issue, they were still going to stop the event from taking place because of the huge crowd which the hall could not accommodate,” B1 said. “So, we just have to forget about the past, learn from our lessons and avoid mistakes next time.”

The author of Ndolo Dance however expressed gratitude to all guests and guest artists who showed up on Saturday at the aborted event. “There came in their numbers from far and near and this shows how much space I occupy in their hearts. I’m really thankful and doff my hearts to my fans as well as colleagues,” said the singer.

As a mark of gratitude, the author of Africa Mama (the album that was on agenda for official release) opened up for a catch-up concert the following day, Sunday April 12, 2015, during which guests stars, including the Minnesota-based child band, C-Boyz, performed. The Sunday make-up event was free of charge.

Aborted music concerts are not a strange phenomenon in the entertainment world. A couple of years back in Yaounde, Cameroon, a highly publicized concert with a famous French rapper ended abruptly when 10 to 15 minutes into the spectacle, lights went off. The thousands of spectators who had showed up were stranded but the situation never changed. The organizers had incurred huge losses.

According to B1, the Africa Mama album launch proper will place in July this year. “Details will be announced subsequently,” he told us.

B1 has been in music for some time now, but he hit the fame road last year with the release of Ndolo Dance and since then, the artist has been a replica of hard work and determination. He is now known to have broken the myth of ‘much show, less business’ which Cameroonian entertainers are being tagged with. Observers say his mastery of the business component of entertainment is a good example to emulate.