Скачать или смотреть Against the Grain: Lapiro's music as political commentary

After spending the late seventies and early eighties between Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon the musician Lapiro De Mbanga finally returned home to Cameroon in 1985 with the album that marked the beginning of a sustained commentary on the socio-economic and political situation in Cameroon. The title song Pas argent no love decries the commodification of love.

His linguistic signature was distinctive. Unlike other musicians who sang mostly in their mother tongues Lapiro sang in Camfranglais; a popular French-based speech form that merges lexical items from English, Pidgin English and local languages.

This song, No Make Erreur released in 1986, like Pas argent no love, indicated that Lapiros inspiration came mostly from those living on the margins of society.

No Make Erreur explores the subcultural world of the mboko. The mbokos are thiefs, swindlers, and conmen.

Kop Nie released in 1988 saw him expanding his inspirational base to include not just the mbokos but also the general struggling public popularly known as sauveteurs. Sauveteurs are mostly involved in petty trading and other survival ventures.

Kop Nie also establishes the importance of public spaces in Lapiros music. Markets, train and bus stations became symbols of the struggle against economic crises, and eventually would become important spatial axes of political activism during the 1990s prodemocracy movements.

Having established a fan base among the underprivileged, Lapiro then engaged the government with the peoples grievances. This is Mimba We Lapiros direct appeal to the president to look into the peoples plight.

In the heat of the struggle for democracy in the 90s, Lapiro released Na You an indictment of the president for messing up the country. He called on the president to clear up the mess.

The song is also an apt summary of the dismal socio-economic situation in the country. Educational qualifications had become virtually useless. Everybody, from the primary school leaver to the university graduate turned to unskilled jobs in order to make ends meet. This is the atmosphere captured in Na you, a song that became an anthem both in the dancehall and on the streets.

But the song that would land Lapiro in hot waters is Constitution Constipee, released in 2008. It is a protest song against the amendment of the constitutional clause limiting presidential mandates to two nonrenewable seven year terms. This song is very categorical in its call for the president to step down because he has outlived his usefulness.

The song is representative of popular opinion at the time. It was banned from the national radio and television networks. In February 2008, angered by high living cost and the presidents intention to stay on after 2011, violent youths stormed the streets asking for change. Lapiro was arrested and framed for inciting violence and arson. He now languishes in jail as we speak. Cameroonians believe he is being punished for his barefaced description of the president as a chief gangster surrounded by a band of looters of state funds.