Culture

Cameroonian ‘mourning’ music, Mbolé, gradually getting nationwide acceptance

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2023

The Cameroonian “mourning” music, Mbolé, which began as a form of song chanted at funeral wakes or during interments to comfort mourners, is gradually becoming a part of Cameroon’s cultural mainstream music, and a powerful form of expression for its frustrated youth.

According to one of the earliest exponent of Mbolé music, Lionel Malongo Belinga, who performs under the name of Petit Malo, the development of the music genre has come a long way from over a quarter of a century ago in poor districts of Yaounde, the central African nation’s capital.

“Mbolé music began as a sort of back-and-forth at funeral vigils between a chanter, who would devise lyrics and sing them, and responders, who sang the lyrics back and provided rhythm using buckets, saucepans or other implements,” Belinga told an audience in Yaounde on Tuesday.

“At the start, mbole was stigmatised – people looked on it as gutter music but beneath the image, it was adaptable and it soon won people over. You would invite people around, you formed a circle, and you started to play to keep people entertained,” he said.

From the humble beginning, Mbolé has spread to weddings and baptisms and other ceremonies, progressively becoming more sophisticated as instruments such as keyboards and the big West African drum known as the Djembe, were brought in, Belinga said.

“Around six years ago, Mbolé started to go mainstream, and it is now feted as a national music genre. There’s no TV or radio station which doesn’t have Mbole.

“Mbolé is the grandson of bikutsi and the nephew of makossa, but when you hear it, you feel immediately Cameroonian.

“We have Afro-beat, which came from Nigeria, but when you listen to Mbolé, you hear all the sounds of Cameroon,” he said.

Related Topics:Cameroon Entertainment Featured Mbole Music

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Culture

Ghana’s Afua Asantewaa begins second GWR sing-a-thon attempt

Published

10 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghanaian singer, Afua Asantewaa, on Saturday, began her second attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest singing marathon by an individual.

The sing-a-thon which began in the early hours of Saturday, December 21, at Heroes’ Park, Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, will run until December 25, and will see the determined songstress perform non-stop, focusing exclusively on Ghanaian songs.

According to Asantewaa’s manager, Madam Gladys Osei Owiredu, the audacious initiative is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Ghanaian music to a global audience.

Owiredu confirmed that preparations for the event had been extensive but expressed confidence in Asantewaa’s readiness to finally break the record.

“I can confirm that she is ready for the task ahead. It’s been challenging—by way of preparations—but I can say she is ready,” Owiredu said.

Asantewaa’s second attempt follows her first effort in December 2023, which fell short of surpassing the current record of 105 hours held by India’s Sunil Waghmare.

But despite the setback, her team remains optimistic about breaking the record this time with corporate sponsors including International Maritime Hospital, Ghana Gas, Nasco Electronics, and Zoomlion Ghana Limited rallying behind her, underscoring the importance of the attempt in amplifying the global significance of Ghanaian music.

Culture

Ghana’s Supreme Court dismisses suit challenging anti-LGBT bill

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed two separate suits challenging the legality of one of the proposed anti-LGBT legislations awaiting assent into law by the president.

The separate suits were filed by two legal practitioners, Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, challenging the bill, seeking to declare it illegal and prevent the president from signing it.

The two cases had challenged the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

But in a ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to dismiss the legal challenges to the new anti-LGBT legislation that has been criticised by rights groups.

The controversial bill was passed earlier this year by Ghanaian lawmakers with three years imprisonment for people identifying as LGBT and five years for forming or funding LGBT groups.

While dismissing the cases, presiding judge, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, who delivered the ruling on behalf of the seven-member panel, said the cases were premature.

“Until there’s presidential assent, there is no act, the two cases were “unanimously dismissed,” she said.

The ruling is the latest blow to the LGBTQ community in Ghana and paves the way for the president to sign into law what many say is one of Africa’s most restrictive piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose term in office ends on 7 January, had delayed signing it pending the outcome of the Supreme Court challenge but the judges said the case could not be reviewed until it had been signed it into law.

It expected that incoming president, John Mahama, will sign the bill into law as he had always expressed his support for the bill during his electioneering campaigns.