U.S. based Cameroonian rapper drops new joint

Ever conscious of the need to be musically present on the music scene, U.S. based Cameroonian rapper Flo has dropped a fresh new video track titled 'Workout'. It was written and produced by the rapper himself. Just like his earlier releases 'I'm hot' and 'Boo thang', this track testifies to his huge American influences. On the sides, it is also worth noting that Flo, formerly recording as Big Flo and Yong Flo, officially became a U.S. citizen on Friday May 10, 2013.

IdlePark's Urban Playlist of the Week

 U.S. based Cameroonian artist Vreezyville - 'Waiti do' (Cover of 'Oleku' by Ice Prince)

  Britain - based Cameroonian artist Debra Debs ft. P. Jericho - Africa (higher higher)

  Cameroonian boy band trio JEM'M -'Azoflex'

Stanley ENOW - 'Hein pere'

Up and coming MC Djibril - 'Je suis bole'

U.S. based Cameroonian artist Kay Zeey - Don't judge me (Chris Brown cover)

Cameroonian artists try to surf Azonto - Djazzé wave

The Azonto and Djazzé tsunamis sweeping the African music scene have not left anybody unscathed, especially Cameroonian artists. In their quest for greater prominence and visibility, they are leaving no stone unturned. After 'Cameroon Azonto' offered by U.S. based Cameroonian artist Vreezyville, here come boyband trio JEM'M with Azoflex which is the end result of fusing Azonto and Djazze. Azonto is a sound and dance style from Ghana that was popularised in 2012 by British - Ghanian artist Fuse ODG. Djazzé on the other hand is an urban dance and music trend from Gabon that was further brought into the spotlight by Gabonese music matriarch Patience Dabany.

Whether or not this attempt will find a local or national following is hard to say. But like every endeavour, it deserves a chance. So take a listen and hear for yourselves whether this is going to be the next big hit or miss.

L'ancienne protégée de Kriss Bad marque son retour avec 'Kilimanjaro'

Après ce qu'on pourrait qualifier d'un passage à vide, l'ancienne protégée de Kriss Bad, J. Junelle est de retour. Elle réapparait sur la scène musicale avec 'Kilimanjaro', une reprise de l'un des titres phares de la riche discographie d'Eko Rooosevelt. Fort  d'un beat techno, des beaux costumes et un vidéogramme décent, la chanteuse livre une chanson capable de faire bouger les lieux festifs. Toutefois sa prestation vocale - un mélange de sa voix naturelle et de sa voix électronisée – dilue quelque peu  la qualité générale de ce morceau pourtant très dansant. Faites votre propre appréciation en mettant vos  ouïes et vos yeux au travail.

Ce travail à part, il est bien de constater qu'elle renait de ses cendres après son divorce professionnelle avec son collaborateur de longue date Kriss Bad. 'Waka fine ya mamee'

February 16 returns with Debra Debs 'Africa - higher higher' music video

The last time he made major news was during the 2012 Mboa HipHop Awards in which he was nominated and walked away with the Best Female Video Award. Since then the acclaimed music video director has been kind of quite so to speak. But if you've been wondering where he's been or what he's been up to wonder no more. After making waves with videos for Jovi, Sine and Renise, Feb 16 has hit the Cameroonian music scene with another video for Britain - based Cameroonian singer Debra Debs. The 'Africa - higher higher' video is pure Feb 16, with amazing shoots depicting the hustle and bustle of urban life. The song is a call to excellence to Africans and features P. Jericho. Enjoy the video right here.

Prof P.K. Titanji should not have been Vice Chancellor

May 2 to 3, 2013, served as the days for the scientific laudation of Prof Vincent P.K. TItanji, holder of a M.Sc. in Animal Biochemistry (1973), PhD in Physiological Chemistry (1978), made Research Associate Professor  in Physiological Chemistry in 1988,chartered biologist since 1990, Fellow at the Institute of Biology London since 1977, fellow of the institute of the academy of sciences  for developing Countries since 2004, African academy of sciences and fellow of the Cameroonian Academy of sciences. This is just an ounce of the accolades the distinguished Cameroonian professor has garnered over the years.  The scientific papers he has authored as well as his current and past research interests have been sidelined because of the space there would occupy. 

 In light of the above and role scientists and high – profile intellectual intellectuals like Prof Titanji under foreign skies play in activating the developmental process through research and innovation, one can ask a few questions. Should scientists be appointed to administrative posts? Should the reward for their academic brilliance be elevation to air-conditioned offices, away from their labs? Aren’t big and bigger research grants better recognition for a scientist than insertion into the quagmire of our universities’ administrative landscape? All these questions are all the more pertinent given the current national and international as well as potential social and economic importance of the research focus of these scientists. Sure, the argument can be made that these scientists could have declined these appointments but this is another issue. The core issue here is the political mindset that perceives appointments, and not research grants, as the only grease that can be put on the scientific elbow. This needs changing because appointing scientists will obviously culminate in lower output from them since there’ll have to sideline their research and run the school. This far appointing scientists to administrative posts in Cameroon has led to the scarring of their hard-earned reputations in varsity upheavals, Prof Chumbow , Dr Mrs Dorothy Njuema and even Prof P.K. Titanji as well as recently Dr Mrs ..................

This is not necessarily an impeachment of the managerial skills of scientists. It is simply a call for a revolution in the ends to which we put our beloved scientists and intellectuals. Leave administration to the ENAMists and leave research and innovation to scientists, not forgetting the concurrent enabling environment.

So Prof P.K. Titanji should not have been Vice Chancellor. He should have been comfortably tucked in a laboratory with the tasks of coming up with a new drug for malaria or some other ailment resting firmly on his able shoulders.

How hard it is to be a man, anyway

I would like to start by saying that it is also hard to be a woman, but what do I know? I am a man. Anything I say about the trials and tribulations of womanhood would be conjecture and speculation at best, devoid of any truth. So I‘ll keep to what I believe I know: how hard it is to be a man.

Society despite its best intentions has heaped a load of attributes on men and deviation is often met with criticism. As soon as you’re a child you start feeling the heat of being a man. Whenever you cry too much for somebody's liking, this critical question is levelled at whoever is in charge of you. 'Why dee ya pikin dee ova cry so like woman?’ When immunisation time comes and you feel the irresistible need to greet the syringe invading your butt-vacy – the privacy of your butt (kids don’t have privacy) with a resounding squeal, the nurse will empathise with words like don’t cry, strong man, translation = if you cry you’re not a man, men must endure suffering silently even if their pain hurts badly. When you hit adolescence and have had the misfortune of being the son of a rich father, the pressure of equaling his success begins to build as comparisons start being formulated. Having a less financially endowed  father isn’t devoid of stress. Most young men born to modest fathers spend their lives trying not to be like their dads. That's hard, too.

When an African man can fend for himself, he is expected to do so for himself as well as his extended family. Even in these dull economic times, men even jobless are still being expected to start having families. Hit a certain age and still be single, your manhood is questioned.

Sometime in 2001, I effortlessly succeeded in putting myself in front of the discom, the disciplinary committee, of  Government High School, Buea where I schooled. The standard policy then was to welcome those summoned with 7 strokes of the whip. On that particular occasion, the Discipline Master Mr Sambozo – I must admit I have never mastered the spelling of his name - told us as he prepared his whip for the descent on our bodies that this beating was intended to give us clear minds so we could speak the truth. I stepped up to receive my due and the first stroke landed on my butt with thunderous intensity........ O'boy, the pain rattled through my entire body with lightening speed and I felt a pressing urge to unleash wails but all I did ultimately was hold my butt and squeeze it tightly hoping that this would muzzle the tsunami coursing through every stretch of my being. Why didn’t I cry? After the stroke landed and I was in the throes of pain, I suddenly remembered that my English Literature teacher was on the panel and that some classmates -female- were present. What will become of my male esteem in school and amongst my peers as these girls would most certainly be girls and go litter my class with news of my teary exploits?

How hard it is to be a man, anyway? It is hard more than some would care to imagine. It is a lifetime of you -against – the- world situations. But most importantly, it is a lifetime of being forced to deny one’s self basic and affordable privileges like crying and shedding tears when your body desperately needs them for your own welfare. It is a lifetime of trying to live up to society's expectations. It is simply an endless streak of SACRIFICE. If you experience this then you know how hard it is to be a man whether you’re male or female.