Of What Relevance is the Oroko Music and Artists to the Oroko People?

ByJackson Nanje

At my early entry into the music production business, I sought the advice of Sango Emile Kangue, Ben Decca, Polo Banlog and Prince Ndedi Eyango. They told me of the difficult road ahead and what I must do to overcome the embedded difficulty if I intend to stay in the music production business. These icons have been of extreme relevance to me as I continue to make better with each production and with each artist. The purpose however of this write up is to bring the Oroko people and the Oroko artists to an understanding, which will demand that the people (who are more than five hundred thousand in numbers) reward the hard work of the artists and musicians by purchasing their products so as to enrich and reward them and equally push them to make better music and videos. The Oroko artists and musician have proven to us that they are quite capable of making good music if they are handsomely rewarded by their people. But if you ask the average Oroko man or woman to name three Oroko artists or musicians, you will be lucky if one is named. This disdain for our artists is one of the reasons why many of us have not heartily embraced our Oroko culture and heritage. Before I continue my lamentation of the abandonment of our heritage by us, I will like to share with you some excerpts of my dialogue with the afore-mentioned great music icons:

Emile Kangue: He has constantly told me to encourage my artists by letting their music (songs) to breathe. Meaning, they should not always sing through their songs and over the instruments; we should always allow the audience to appreciate and listen to the other musicians playing on the album such as the drummer, guitarists and pianist without the artists singing over them. This advice does not only apply to the Oroko artists. The other tribal artists are guilty of this infraction as well.

Ben Decca: On his part he told me clearly to let the music to play without the calling of names of some local heroes who have paid the artists some few coins for a second of notoriety. Or in some cases, individuals who intend to, or the artists expect some hand-outs from them. Whatever the outcome of these name-droppings, it cancels out the synchronization of the music with the dancing steps of the dancers being interrupted incessantly. The flow of the music is not just there.

Prince Ndedi Eyango: He told me that charity always begin at home. That if I make a makossa which does not sell in Douala, it will not sell anywhere else. As soon as it peaks in Douala, you have won the audience all over. So, in applying his phyilosophy, we must make the Oroko music which our people appreciate first to be able to sell it elsewhere.

Polo Banlog: He is a one of the best music engineers in the country, a Bassa man who has fallen in love with the Oroko music and he unequivocally advised me that I should spend my limited resources in the production and exportation of the Oroko music because Cameroonians will have pleasure in uncovering a scintillating folklore. And I sincerely believe it is paying off. The only dragging issue is to find enough Oroko people to find pleasure in their own custom, tradition, language and music. Non-Oroko cherish our music more than our people.

 

Even though the Oroko music is beginning to gain traction on the world stage, it is equally true that a majority of our Oroko people (mostly young girls) are ashamed of playing the Oroko music when amongst their friends, to avoid a rebuke or to avoid venturing their colleagues into a language which they cannot speak or understand. However, as a producer, I must seek answers to my questions from every corner in order to address the problems we face with our Oroko music with the hope that, all the parties involve have a role in addressing the problems. It is rare to find Oroko musicals, which was done more than thirty (30) years ago on cassettes, compact disc (CD) or in any form of recording. The first musical recording was done by the late Sylvester Buma (from Ilor Balondo) some thirty-three (33) years ago. But there existed some good musicians before Buma like Abriko and Manyolo whose works were never recorded for distribution. Today, we have seen an avalanche of very good Oroko artists and musicians. The numbers of these artists and musicians can rise above forty (40). With the influx of good Oroko sound engineers, artists and musicians, why is it that we are still struggling to have Oroko music make a breakthrough as one of the genres of Cameroon music?

a.   Charity, they say, begins at home. Non-Oroko cannot embrace music that the natives themselves reject. For Oroko music to have a stranglehold into the annals of Cameroon music the natives must embrace, buy and constantly play the songs in festivals, marriages, funeral ceremonies and many other areas where festivities are taking place. If we do not play it, who will? The musicians must be invited, paid well and play a major role in these festivities. Oftentimes in marriages, our women who, in the most part marry non-Oroko men, are not allowed to have the OROKO music on the menu of their marriage and the Oroko musicians are not even guests of honor. Meanwhile, the newly-wedded husbands will grace the occasion with musicians from their tribes. This timidity and inferiority complex must stop because we must herald our own by exerting our weight anywhere.

b.   Name-calling in most Oroko songs by Oroko artists MUST STOP. Many people no longer fancy the barrage of names that often is a lubricant in Oroko music. The names, whenever they are called, disrupts the rhythm or the flow of the musical. And if we expect people to buy our music, we must listen to their demands or requests to eliminate the name-droppings completely or reduce them by as much as 95%. The Oroko artists must choose between satisfying the demand of the people to abolish this old-fashion trend or sacrifice your music not being purchased. There are however exceptions to the rules. For music done for the celebration of life not meant for commercialization, can be an exception to the rule.

c.    It is true that majority of our artists lack sponsorship and they do not respect the services of a manager to manage their career. They know very little about the imports of a manager and that is one of the reasons why thirty-three (33) years after, the Oroko music is still struggling to evolve. The artists always rush to send their hurriedly-minted songs that do not meet production and consumption standards because of their limited financial resources and limited knowledge to appreciate their own product before they are released. I am hereby appealing and encouraging the Oroko artists to spend a minimum of two years from conception of music to release date, to produce marketable products in the market. Such time is needed to do self-evaluation of their product before their release. It also gives them ample time to look for funding to pay for studio fees to bring their product quality up-to-date.

d.   As time progresses, the Oroko artists must have evolved in the videos they put out for consumption. The Oroko artists does not have the required money to pay for a costume consultant and designer, a make-up artist (or a beautician) to make-over the artist and the dancers and to pay for a good video engineer who can manage the images they send out to the consumers. The consuming public is equally a critiquing one. So, they expect all these requirements to be fulfilled if “we” want them to consume our products. We often fall short in their critical evaluation with our substandard products we hurriedly throw at them to consume.

e.    The image of the Oroko artists and musicians is another issue of concern. This is not to undermine them; however, it is hard to differentiate an Oroko artist from a farmer in his attire. If the artists expect their products to gain traction in the market, their public image is also in demand. They must not frequent bars and drink spots or ride in motorbikes as passengers. They should be rare to the public eye so as to boost their demand. It is another advice I received from Prince Ndedi Eyango. Preserve that iconic image!

These are some of the issues the Oroko artists and musicians must address if they are to achieve any relevance within our Oroko and Cameroon communities. The consumer (buyer or customer) is always right, not artists or musicians (seller).