West African country bans the sale of some popular music

In Cameroon, authorities are banning the sale and/or broadcast of some popular music, including a new dance hit by the prominent Cameroonian rapper, Franko.

Jan. 4, 2013, in Yaounde, Cameroon authorities are banning
the sale and broadcast of some popular music including
a new dance hit by the prominent Cameroonian rapper, Franko.

The video for this song by Cameroonian rapper Franko has been watched more than two million times on Youtube. It is called "Coller la petite," which translates to something like "Stick to the girl." In the song, Franko urges men to hold their female partners tight. It is a runaway regional dance hit.

But Joseph Tangwa Fover, the most senior administrative official in the Mifi district of western Cameroon, has banned the sale and broadcast of the song saying it promotes public indecency.

Franko, a Cameroonian rap artist, has a smash hit
song called, "Coller La Petite", which loosely
translates to "Stick to the Girl".

"What is bad in the song is the message which changes the behavior of our youths. When you play it the dancing style changes and it leads to unwanted pregnancies. If a man brought good music saying that people should go to the farm, will I stop it? This particular song does not respect our normal behavior,” Fover said. “Our children should be responsible. Their parents should be responsible. Even those composing these songs should be responsible. The music that does not augur well to our own culture should be wiped out of the society."

One of Franko's managers, Atangana Parfait, said music should express reality in Cameroon. He said there are noise-making, self-proclaimed moral guides who are trying to blame all Cameroon's problems on music. He said they are wrong.

Detractors say youth are embracing Western attitudes and have lost touch with traditional values, like respect for elders and modesty. I would modestly agree to this statement.  A prime example would be how hiphop was hijacked and turned into rap crap and the younger generations have lost touch with today's traditional values here in America as well.

Music video of "Coller La Petite" 



Franko is not the only Cameroonian artist who has been accused of promoting immoral or illegal behavior. Veteran musician Lapiro De Mbanga was banned from state media for being critical of the government. He went into exile and died in America last year.

Pop artists and rappers like Petit Pays, K' Tino, Lady Ponce, Tonton Ebogo and Joceline Bizar have been accused of producing music that is pornographic in nature. State radio and television refuse to broadcast their songs but private media jam the airwaves with it.

Musician Ama Pierrot said banning music will not fix societal problems. This is not the first time the government has taken measures to contain what it calls a "social problem." In 2013, authorities went around arresting girls they said were dressed "indecently" in short skirts.

In my opinion, banning the sale of certain songs is not the answer to solve society's problems and ill wills. But, some music is a direct result of the problem's of society which reflect in a song's lyrics. I do believe that there is a market for adult music that promote foul language and adult dancing but it should be kept as adult. In non-western countries such as Cameroon, I think they hold a very high esteem about their spiritual traditions, dignity, self-respect, respect for women, morals and values. Just like the legal drinking age in America is 21 years old, Cameroon should have a music law that says a person has to be the age of 21 years or older to produce indecent, provocative and or violent song lyrics in their music. Just something to think about I guess.
Insolent Politics

Sources: Voice of America,  OkayAfrica.com, 

Kyle Lydell Canty, 30, crossed into Canada in early September of 2015, telling border agents that he was here to visit and take photographs, but once in Vancouver he decided he would apply to remain as a refugee.

“I’m in fear of my life because I’m black,” he told IRB (Immigration Review Board) member Ron Yamauchi in a hearing on October 23rd in Vancouver. “This is a well-founded fear.”

Canty argues that black people are “being exterminated at an alarming rate” in the U.S. and included examples such as the shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri and the death of Eric Garner in New York City at the hands of police.

Kyle Lydell Canty, 30, is seeking refugee status in Canada.

 As part of evidence submitted to the board, Canty edited together multiple point-of-view videos of his interaction with police, including one where he was arrested for trespass in Salem, Oregon, when he spent two hours talking on the phone and using free Wi-Fi at a bus station.

“I got bothered because I’m black,” he said. “This is a history of false arrest. My name is ruined because of the false arrest.”

In 2008, Denise Harvey was convicted of having unlawful sex with a minor. According to American media reports, the boy was 16-years-old and played on her son’s baseball team. As a Florida sex offender, Denise claimed asylum in Saskatchewan Canada and has been granted protected person status. Say what? She was granted protection person status and she was not in any danger for her life?

Denise Harvey, a registered sex offender in Florida, has been
granted protected person status in Canada.

Harvey fled to Canada in 2010 before she could be sent to prison. She was sentenced to 30 years in jail and is still wanted in the United States. Denise Harvey claimed her sentence was cruel and unusual punishment and after arriving in Saskatchewan, she asked for asylum. Her request for protected person status was heard by the Immigration Review Board (IRB) in July of 2012 and the IRB granted her request because it agreed her sentence was indeed cruel and unusual punishment and the crime she was convicted of is not a crime in Canada. So, is Canada insinuating that an adult having sex with a minor is okay in in their country? 

To sum it up, I'm just a little vexed that Denise Harvey was granted  protection person status and Lyle Canty is having such a hard time getting granted that same status when his life is in danger? Another example of insolent politics.

Insolent Politics

Sources: CBC.CA, Huffington Post

Fox again uses African American stereotypes to boost their ratings

After struggling television ratings in the fall of 2014, Fox just received what they call "some very welcome news: Wednesday night’s hip-hop drama The Empire has opened strong." First of all, many African Americans who watched the premiere of The Empire viewed it just to see what the hype was all about including myself. I thought that maybe times have finally changed from the same ole epic about a rapper and record label. Myself like many others who know better watched this rap, not hiphop, drama to critique it. And once again the racist stereotypes of black people are exploited again. The only people in America who can save ratings are the stereotypical black ghetto record label drama. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the acting because Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson are acting their butts off.


Actor Terrence Howard getting photo bombed because
of the rap drama The Empire

You see, one has to read between the lines. When I googled The Empire I surfed a few social sites to see the results of the Nielson ratings and low and behold the station owners were praising this low-brow drama as if it were something to be proud of. For other races of people, I can understand why they praised this TV series. But from an African American perspective, this TV series is nothing to be proud of, nothing to be praised and nothing to look up to. They have the younger generation fooled but not the 35 year olds and up. I just kept shaking my head and saying, "Gyollie, this is a damn shame... the same wack ass narrative with new agendas."

Director Lee Daniels

The creator of The Empire, Lee Daniels, seems to be taking Tyler Perry's spot for demeaning black people in movies and TV. If you ever heard of the movies Monster's Ball, The Woodman, Precious and The Butler then you have seen Lee Daniels work. Daniels has directed other films and you can check out his bio for the credits. It is a damn shame that there was a roundtable discussion Sunday night with the two lead actors, the director (Lee Daniels) and producers of the show saying how "great" and how "real" the show is. Where are the shows that show lynchings, police brutality and blatant racism in this country. Taraji P. Henson (actress/co-star), Brian Grazer (the producer), Danny Strong (executive producer/writer) and Ilene Chaiken (executive producer/showrunner) were talking like this was the greatest TV show for black people since The Cosby Show! The round table discussion was horrid at best. With movies like Selma, The Help, The Butler and Twelve Years A Slave African Americans still don't have ONE movie or TV sitcom that POSITIVELY describes sensible, educated hard working Black people in this country. "Empire was just some random idea I had," Danny Strong told The Wire at Fox's upfront after party. "I was literally driving in my car and I thought, I wonder if you could do King Lear in a hip hop empire. I literally was like: King Lear. Hip hop Empire and then my next thought was, 'I should call Lee Daniels.'" {read between the lines}.


According to InsideTV The Empire premiered to 9.8 million viewers and a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49. That’s Fox’s highest-rated series debut in three years (since 2012’s Touch)...  {read between the lines}. All of the other shows that Fox aired were dismal at best until the saviors of TV ratings (Black folks) were once again exploited to save the ratings and this show called The Empire proves my theory. American Idol pulled a premiere-low 3.2 rating with adults 18-49. That's down significantly from the 4.7 rating it brought in last January of 2014. Still, American Idol had a slight edge in total viewers, averaging 11.2 million.

50 Cent isn’t a fan of the new hip hop drama “Empire” — but the show’s star Taraji P. Henson doesn’t seem to mind.
Taraji P. Henson,  Oscar nominee, responded to the rapper’s diss of her new Fox series on Twitter earlier this week, after 50 Cent claimed on Instagram that “Empire’s” marketing materials were very similar to the Starz crime drama, “Power,” which he produces.
“POWER Season 2 is unbelievably good trust me,” he wrote last month in a since-deleted post. “I have the best writers and show runner. “I like Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson. I don't like that they would copy the Marketing.”
After 50 Cent claimed that the Fox drama’s marketing materials were similar to his series "Power," Taraji P. Henson tweeted, "I pay attention to dollars not cents." In a recent interview, she also said that she didn't 'take offense' to his comments.

Empire ranks as the top-rated show in the demo, beating ABC’s Modern Family head-to-head, and grew from its Idol lead-in by 19 percent. Empire outperformed Fox’s heavily hyped Gotham premiere this fall, and managed to retain its rating throughout its hour (InsideTv call this a good sign... a good sign for who?) 
Insolent Politics
Sources: InsideTV, The Hollywood Reporter,  Deadline.com