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Cameroon, in general, has a very vast musical scene with numerous artists of different genres and as such, we decided to take a look at the various genres in Cameroon music and the difference between them in the coming lines below:
• Bikutsi:
Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaoundé. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa. It is primarily dance music. Bikutsi is characterized by an intense rhythm and high tempo kind of vibe on its songs. Examples of Bikutsi artists include Mani Bella, Coco Argentee, Lady Ponce, etc.
• Hip Hop:
Hip Hop music, also called rap music, is a genre of popular music developed in the 1970s. It consists of stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It is mainly more about giving out food for thought to the masses. Most Hip hop artists we have are Crispy, Mic Monsta, Yung Meagan etc.
• Afro Pop:
African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro-pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music which makes a combination of modern Afrobeat music. It’s mostly used by artists in the urban mainstream of Cameroon like Daphne, Mr. Leo, Ko-c, etc.
• Makossa:
Makossa is a noted Cameroonian popular urban musical style. Like much other late 20th century which uses strong electric bass rhythms and prominent brass. In the 1980s makossa had a wave of mainstream success across Africa and to a lesser extent abroad. Makossa has dominated the Cameroonian music scene for a very long time with artists like Petit Pays, Longue Longue and Manu Dibango at the wheel of this genre.
• Gospel Music
Gospel music is a genre of Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context but in Cameroon, Gospel music is singing in celebration of Christianity and deals with the glorification of God. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the Christians in our music Industry. Examples of artists who perform this genre of music are Prosper Menko, Elizabeth Takeh, Indira, Vumomse Charles, and many others.
• Mboko
Mboko is a sub-genre of hip hop music done in Cameroon which entails the usage of instruments and content which appease the masses a mixture of Pidgin and English rap. It has been exciting for years now and has been spearheaded by some old school Cameroonian rappers like; Dr. Kapt, New Bell rapper Jovi and many others.
So there you have it, the different music genres used by Cameroonian artists.
