MAKOSSA ISN’T DEAD! IT’S ONLY DYING!
Nchanji Njamnsi
French > English < > ???? Pidgin Translator - Interpreter | Communication | Career HUMAN!
Amid the rush and heat of December 2022, Cameroon lost a Makossa giant: Ekambi Brilliant. The loss triggered pilgrimages to his body of work, posthumous acknowledgements of his talent and recurring controversial debates. On social media, one debate among some Cameroonians revolved around equating the fall of this icon to the umpteenth demise of the music genre that propelled him to stardom. In fact, some argued that Makossa is dead. This piece begs to differ: the genre isn't dead. It's only dying. And not the way many think it is.
??????????????????????[If you are joining this conversation with little or no information about Cameroon and its music landscape, the “What is Makossa? Who is Ekambi Brilliant?” part is some background information. Don’t thank me even later. Just kindly read, leave a comment, and most importantly repost. Every other person can skip straight to “Why Is Makossa Dying?”]
??????????????????What is Makossa ? Who is Ekambi?
?????????????????????Makossa is to Cameroon what Rumba is to the DRC or what Highlife is to Ghana. It originated in Douala -Sawaland- in the 1940s and soon found nationwide appeal. For over 70 years, it was Cameroon’s leading musical export. It is the melody that soundtracked the country’s march into independence. More than a genre, it represents the wings on which many musicians in post-independence Cameroon flew to reach stardom. One such musician is Ekambi Brilliant.
??????????????????????Born Ekambi Ekambi Louis Brillant on June 18, 1948 in Douala, he is a Makossa legend whose career spanned decades –starting back in 1971 when he won a music competition organised in France and ending on December 12, 2022 following a protracted illness. Early on in his career he seemed to cultivate a James Brown like persona on stage and his music was quite reminiscent of the times: eclectic around the edges but deeply Cameroon/African at the core. His musical talent stretched beyond the shores of Cameroon, and made memorable inroads into Western pop music. Demi Roussous’s 1977 hit “Kyrila” samples his timeless hit “Elongi” released two years earlier. A producer too, he nurtured even international talent through his record label Jengou Records, co-producing and writing two of the songs on the 1981 maiden album, Pretty, of grammy award-winning Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo. Yes, the initial shine of the one and only Angelique Kidjo was initially polished by a Cameroonian. Truth be told, Ekambi Brilliant was an all -round musician, and confirmed his skill both up and downstream of the music production process. ?Owning to the depth of his talent, electrifying stage performances and outlook on his artistry, he helped build a strong association between Makossa, its performers, and international stardom. On several occasions, he was quoted as saying that musicians are public figures and so should groom themselves properly when they are out in public. A Makossa pioneer and contemporary of other genre greats, he unintentionally set a dizzyingly-high standard by which others would be judged. And this explains why his sudden demise without any biographical or documentary account of his career has ignited this old debate.
?????????????????????????????????For posterity sake, such debates are quite important because they are a veiled acknowledgement of the importance of transmission and/or archiving in safeguarding and sustaining a movement. However, we shouldn’t perpetuate the idea that Makossa dies every time a makossa great days. Because one person alone cannot – and should not- embody music with so many recognisable and living authors. Especially if this tendency will make us miss the fact that music as art never really dies …in an instant as if dealt a blow to the death. The death of art is a process that stretches over decades and often ultimately culminates into transformation, not death. This is what has been happening to Makossa and therefore it is more to say Makossa has been dying, not dead, with the understanding that art never dies, it only changes shape, form. It transforms into something. Makossa is no exception.
????????????????????????????????This is the point where you are surely asking how has Makossa been dying. Let me indulge your curiosity. Let me also request that you focus more on why it has been dying because the how part is simple; Makossa has been dying through the receding presence of its performers on the local and international musical landscape.?Not because of the demise of its pioneers. Now this is why I think Makossa has been dying. Two reasons. I could be wrong but that doesn’t make me dumb. It only makes me human.
?????????????????????????????????Why Is Makossa Dying?
This is actually many arguments lumped into one but since they complement one another, it is best to consider them as one: Until the advent of Bikutsi in the 1950s, Makossa ruled the roost since as early as the 1940s. Makossa seemed to be the only musical genre with national appeal. That is until two things happened: first came Bikutsi in the late 1950s and then urban music in the early two thousands. In their 2005 piece “Music and Politics in Post-Colonial Cameroon, Francis B. Nyamnjoh & Jude Fokwang suggest that Makossa’s national appeal was challenged by Bikutsi that rose to national and international prominence too. Consequently, Makossa lost its monopoly on the national scene as from the eighties and its artists have had to battle with Bikutsi for attention and consideration. ?These battles have left some Makossa artists with a bloody nose. They have knocked others out cold. And have killed a few…figuratively that is. Add the rise of urban music since the early two thousands to the picture and you will understand why Makossa has died a little more. The rise of Cameroon urban music acts like Salatiel, Daphne, Mr Leo, Locko has meant the fall of Makossa acts like Jacky Kingue, Longue Longue, Ndedi Eyengo and yes Ekambi Brilliant. The careers of some of these artists have fallen to their death literally. As the competition has stiffened, Makossa in its purest form has weakened, wobbled and fallen flat on its face. So this argument can be labelled: competition from other genres. That’s argument number one. Now argument number two; another combination of arguments:
?? There has been a demographic shift in the local music fanbase and Makossa artists have failed to adapt. They have failed to adapt their music to suit the tastes of this new demographic. Leading Makossa artists like Ndedi Eyengo rose to fame in the eighties and nineties under the acclaim and ovation of fans who were young. Let’s say late twenties and early thirties. Two generations later, this fan base has aged and a new one has arrived with new tastes and modes of music consumption. Unfortunately, Makossa artists have generally remained the same, musically and professionally. They sound the same and still pretty much carry themselves semi-professionally if not amateurishly. Little or no awarenesss of new music -delivery channels such as streaming platforms. Little or no social media presence. Write to a Makossa singer online and see when they respond. Check social media to see whether they have a page and if they do, check when last they posted something music-related. These debilitating habits contrast sharply with a more generation of fans who readily source their music from social media, and not live events where Makossa artists would most likely perform. To summarise argument number two: failure to adapt to a new demographic. Argument number three (the last):
?????????????????????????????A crop of Makossa musicians ruled the 80s, 90s, their talent splashing too into the 2000s. Particular reference is being made here to Hoigen Ekwalla, Misse Ngoh, Ben Decca, Ndedi Eyengo, Manulo, Grace Decca, Nguea Laroute Dina Bell, Papillon. Another generation was supposed to take over the relay baton and perpetuate the movement. Frustratingly, the most promising of these heirs fizzled out shortly after their stars had illuminated the skies of our attention. Jacky Kingue, Junior Eyango?Mathematik de Petit-Pays and his fellow alums did not live up to their billing. Makossa found itself with a quantitative and even qualitative gap it has had a hard time filling. Most of these young artists who were supposed – or expected - to stoke the fire of Makossa and keep the genre burning abandoned their duty posts, leaving Makossa with a dispersed and averagely-talented squad to keep the fortress. No doubt it fell to the incoming legion of local and international urban music acts. This tricky situation was compounded by the fact that the former sponsors of Makossa acts switched allegiances to satisfy the new demographic before them. Brewery companies that formerly bankrolled Makossa musicians, airlifting them from their Parisian hideouts for December events in Cameroon, started enlisting young urban music acts to sell their brands. Remember Tamtam Weekend? Remember George Dickson? Remember Gold Fasel. That’s the early 90s. Now for the present day: know the K44 beer? Salatiel is the brand ambassador. Look at the constellation of musicians featured in the UCB at fifty campaign and let me know when you see even one modern day Makossa musician in the campaign material. Before you even go there: Petit-Pays is a star! A novelist makes the cut but not a Makossa artist. No Makossa artist is brand ambassador for any of the international liquor brands throwing themselves at urban music acts. So the problem here is lack of heirs and sponsors.
?????????????????????????A fact is therefore obvious: Makossa is not dead. It cannot die like humans do in one definitive instant. Makossa is rather dying. Luckily this doesn’t mean Makossa has disappeared completely from the genes of modern-day Cameroonian music. Lush strands of Makossa can be found in the hits of urban music acts: “Sawa Romance” by Locko and “Controller” by Ringyu just to name these. That it is only dying is good news as this means it can be resuscitated, brought back to life. However, whether or not it will return to its former self fully is an entirely different debate. But let’s first agree on one thing: Makossa is not dead. It is only dying. Do you agree?