We have been witnessing for quite some time in the Cameroonian Music Industry, the rapid increase in international collaborations by most of our artists. The number of tracks released featuring artists from other countries has increased almost at an exponential rate since 2013, in fact they inclination to work with foreign artists here in Cameroon has been so great that some artists have taken it as a major marketing plan, as they strive to get as many collaborations with foreign artists as possible.
Notorious among these artists is Stanley Enow who as at now is the highest Cameroonian artist with international collaborations both in quality and quantity. And as such we tend to wonder if it is a prerequisite in the industry to collaborate with a foreign artists or is it just a maneuver for some artists to gain popularity?
Well,given that most of our artists at a certain stage in their career almost always go in search of international collaborations ,it almost seems like it’s a necessity.
We recently noticed this phenomenon with Daphne as she drooped “Avec Toi” with Benin Star Fanicko and even more recently Mr Leo released “Jamais Jamais “ Remix with Flavour , a video which wracked 62000 YouTube views in 24 hours.
Many people argue that this is a move carried out by artists to make their music well-known and a way to attract awards as we can see that at the international level it is Stanley Enow’s name that will be more familiar when Cameroonian Music is mentioned while some think it is an easy way out for artistst who seek to benefit of the popularity of these foreign already well established artists while some simply think it stems from a sort of inferiority complex our artists have ,as they think that their success as artists will be incomplete as long as they haven’t worked with foreign artists .
Well, there are some of our artists who are still very well renowned at the home level and even at the continental level but yet have no international collaborations to their name and I will quote Jovi as the quintessence of such an artist as he and his entire New Bell Music crew seem not to be interested in international collaborations, we tend to wonder if this makes them stagnant or does it mean they are not progressing?
With all these said, one question stands. Are International Collaborations of great necessity in the growth of Cameroonian artists and in the growth of the music industry as a whole? Please feel free to share your opinions on this in the comment section below.
Yes, i love when Artist do International colabo because it will make them more famous and richer