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Flashmag September 2020 www.flashmag.net
I know Cameroon, your country of origin is a tropical puzzle, where there are too many individualists ...
Now talking about African and Caribbean music, and the new waves that seem to be influenced, by the ease of the creation tools of new technologies give. Do you think it is going in the right direction when everyone can record and publish, are the plethora and the ease of production detrimental to the quality of African and Caribbean music?
Personally, I think technology does not serves us well. I remember that I earned ten times better my life as a producer before the internet.
Then there is no more record label, so there is no more filter. There were professionals who filtered, what we were listening, even if afterwards we could discuss of their filter. Since there were several record companies then there were several filters. Today with the internet, on YouTube, a video of a cat that hit it head makes millions of views and the one who posts it earns money, and an artist who produces works of art sometimes does not equal this numbers. Today it's a kind of chaos, if you don't have a lot of money to stand out from the crowd, it's still difficult. But hey, it's a period that is like that and inevitably there will be another one that I hope will be better for the artists. It is the state of world music that is deplorable not just African music. Before we also listened to the music that our parents listened to, at home and this gave a certain culture to the children who later embraced the career of music. Today this family filter no longer exists, so there is also a certain disruption at this level.
In 2006 you created a structure to educate the public in your country of origin against piracy. A commendable business. However honestly don't you think a better structured music industry would be the answer. Despite the piracy that exists everywhere, artists would live better if there was, for example, a well-established concert circuit. Besides, don't you think that instead of just telling people with very modest incomes not to consume the pirated products, there is a need to find other alternatives in the way of delivering music to the African public?
When I created culture Mboa 15 years ago, we were not in the problem we face today. we were still at the time of distribution of CDs . There was still a possible CD market which was in the hands of piracy, which itself in Cameroon, was organized by a general who had machines at his house. So, it was untouchable peoples running the scam. With Sam Mbendé from the CMC (Cameroon music corporation) and me with my association culture Mboa we tried to sensitize people, and also organize an autonomous distribution network, so that people could really buy the originals; because a distribution network was not even available. People used to tell me I want to buy the original, but where do I find it?
Afterwards, I approached the Cameroonian Ministry of Culture, but the initiative faltered. My partner Ruben Binam and I, were fired from the project, there were false entries and all the rest ... our beautiful country Cameroon, remains very complicated, even when we want to change things for the better, it remains always dark forces which confuse and destroy everything. This will really have to change, if we want to evolve. I hope that if one day there are new authorities’ things will change.
CDs can be sold at the end of concerts but one of the criticisms I make towards the Biya era, is that there is no concert hall in Cameroon, so how are we going to organize concerts without a hall? ? I was better off as a child, because there were plenty of theater in Yaoundé the Abbia, the Mfoundi, the Capitol and many others. It’s still sad that after 60 years of independence we do not have a proper performance hall in Cameroon. Yet it had to exist in all regions for an artist to be able to tour. And worse, young people who want to play live can no longer express themselves and everything is distorted how to train musicians without stages. So, this is why in Africa people consume more and more urban music made digitally, because there is no hall, there is no festival. And that is criminal in view of the talent of young Cameroonians. The young person who makes acoustic music has no platform to express himself even Trace TV does not want our music.
And it's true that Afro media are getting scarce with the recently announced closure of France O
Yes, yesterday or the day before yesterday, (Editor's note August 24, 2020 France O TV has closed)
Now that France O has closed and recently there has been the withdrawal of world music from the Victoires de la musique in France. (French music awards). with everything that seems to be against African and Caribbean music, do you think there is a chance that Africans and Caribbean people decide to take care of themselves, by creating their own tv channel and their own award ceremonies?