Within a language, you have your roots, your culture, and I think and dream in Bassa. We have 260 languages in Cameroon, but the official ones are French and English.

Blick Bassy

Categorized in : You Think Culture Language

When I was a child, there was an old man who toured the villages with just a guitar. The first time I heard him singing Skip James songs, I thought he was singing in an African language.

man singing guitar time

I am from the Bantu people, and Skip James's music sounded like Bantu music and really talked to me.

i-am me music people

Skip James, for me, is the meaning of the blues.

meaning-of meaning blues me

One day I asked myself, 'What do I have to sell in this world?' And I realised, well, I only can sell what I have in my bag, and what I have in my bag is my past, and this is Cameroon. This is the raw material of my career.

day myself past world

I'm a citizen of the world.

citizen world

I don't see myself anywhere specifically, but you can't deny that, in terms of opportunities to create or be an entrepreneur, Africa is a boulevard - it's still all to be done there. And as an African guy, as a Cameroonian, I will obviously do as many things as I can over there.

will myself you i-can

All the kids had to sing every Sunday to draw in people from the neighboring villages. Every day, we woke up at 5 A.M. to pray and to rehearse the songs. We had no choice!

every-day day sunday people

My father wanted me to go to France, U.S. or Japan to study. I told him I wouldn't go anywhere, I'd stay in Cameroon and do my music with my friends. He said that the devil was in me and called a priest to remove it. I was the only guy who didn't want to go to Europe - he thought I was crazy.

me devil music father

When I moved to Paris, I understood where I was coming from. Before that, I wasn't aware how Cameroonian I was! I realized our tradition and languages make me completely different. At that moment, I decided to try to use my music to explain to people about my continent and its problems.

me moment music people

A human born somewhere in this world doesn't have the same chances as another one born in Paris, England, or the U.S. We don't have the same chances at the beginning.

beginning paris born world