It rocked the youth of many music lovers and, even today, "Elongui", its cult title, remains an immortal melody. Ékambi Brillant, whom I had the privilege of meeting in July 2010 in Yaoundé, passed away on December 12 at the age of 74. As a tribute, I publish again here this interview that he gave me, and in which we revisited a part of his musical career. A beautiful chat, between the privilege of an exceptional meeting and professional enrichment, when I met this wonderful African artist for the first time, after having hummed his songs for a long time in my youth...
WHAT BECOMES THE ARTIST ÉKAMBI BRILLANT, WHO… SHINED FOR SEVERAL DECADES?
I'm still an artist and I always will be. Only, I no longer tour, especially to West Africa, as I did in the 1980s. After this period, I indeed went to the United States, where I lived for about fifteen years before returning home to Cameroon.
Back, I tried to put something in place with Manu Dibango. But the structure we initiated didn't work well because people didn't understand... Afterwards, I still continue to make music, shows. I am also preparing a new album which will be released in October (October 2010, Editor's note), and I am going to London for this purpose.
TELL US ABOUT THIS NEW ALBUM…
The album will feature ten to twelve tracks. In terms of theme and trend, I had time to listen to a lot of young African artists, those who are successful and those who are not, those who are getting by, those who are looking for themselves... I think it is the artists who make the fashion and not the contrary.
I am not a fashion artist and I have carefully prepared the album which will be released soon. I write, I work, I record and it's the music lovers who make it a fashion when the album comes out. So it's not a targeted album, but it's made up of some great songs.
WHAT THEMES DO YOU ADDRESS IN THIS ALBUM?
The themes are numerous. You know, Africa has problems. We have a crisis of identity, a crisis of democracy, economy, freedom… All of this inspired me a lot during my many travels, after having listened to, watched several African televisions.
Now is the time for us to take great pride in being Africans doing things that honor us. And also, by believing in ourselves and in our own abilities, in our strengths, and by stopping crying and always blaming the West. We are mature enough, we are seasoned enough to do things on our own… These are the issues addressed by certain songs on my new album.
YOU WHO HAVE LISTEN TO YOUNG PEOPLE A LOT, HOW DO YOU APPRECIATE THE MUSIC OF THE NEW GENERATION, IN CAMEROON AND A LITTLE EVERYWHERE IN AFRICA?
My point of view - and it is my own - is that young people need to take the time to research and work hard. Music is no joke! It's a profession, a lifetime for an artist.
It is not in three or four years that one becomes a great artist, but after several long years, at the cost of many sacrifices. They're looking for success, but success doesn't come with every album. You must keep trying. It is true that some are talented, but you have to work to have the talent. Talent is acquired after years of work...
BUT YOU, ÉKAMBI BRILLANT, YOU HAVE TALENT TO SPARE, AND YOU GOT IT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY! HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT?
I prepared myself, I knew the music, which I studied. I have an Anglo-Saxon musical culture, which I learned in high school and I was inspired a lot by this music, listening to the Beatles, James Brown, Otis Redding… But I also listened a lot to artists like Franco and Tabu Ley, as well as the music of my Cameroonian elders like Francis Bebey, Manu Dibango. It is in all this amalgam, which bubbled in my head, that I drew the style of Ekambi Brillant.
AND YOU WERE LOVED, IMPOSED YOUR BLUES, YOUR STYLE, IN A COMPLETELY ACQUIRED UNIVERSE AT MAKOSSA, FOR EXAMPLE…
Yes... Yes, because I already had a very solid base, a well-founded musical culture. I knew how to play the guitar, the piano, I made arrangements, I went to the school of harmonies... Adding all this to the musical richness that was bubbling in my head, it could only come out melodies or songs that affect people, especially those who are sensitive to good music.
So, I started very young, I quickly understood that I should not stay in Cameroon, but go around the world, and I also knew how to enter the majors. Indeed, many African artists were not accepted by the majors. I had this chance, and it allowed my music to be broadcast all over the world.
DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR VERY FIRST SCENE?
Yes… It was in Douala. I had just won a competition for young hopefuls of African song with the ORTF, which has now become RFI. I was the winner of the competition and I organized a small concert at the French Cultural Center… Then, I negotiated a cinema hall, which was a little more spacious. I had no money, but the manager, a Breton, agreed to schedule me on the basis of an arrangement, because his colleagues told him that they believed in me: he took the recipe until up to the amount of the rental and the rest came back to me. We had a crazy success, which surprised me myself!
I wanted to be a very great artist, and I had introduced lights into my show. Sequins, rhinestones, to make people dream! I didn't have money to buy stage lights at that time and I had to make gels to cover the white light and give the color effects I wanted, depending on my stage games...
YOU HAVE LEARNED TO ORCHESTRATE YOUR CAREER YOURSELF SINCE ANY CHILD. CAN WE SAY THAT “EXTENDED” IS YOUR GREATEST SUCCESS?
Indeed, “Élongui” was a very big hit, even though I did a lot of other songs that also did well. But it was "Élongui" that really propelled me internationally, because it's a beautiful, well-orchestrated melody, which has even been covered by tenors like Demis Roussos.
EXACTLY, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING IN THIS SONG?
"Elongui" means the song, the music. Wherever I find myself, I love song because music softens hearts, morals... And if one day God calls me, I will sing with the angels... This is the essence of the message of "Élongui"
AMONG THE AFRICAN ARTISTS WHOSE CAREERS YOU HAVE ALSO PROPELLED, THERE IS IN PARTICULAR CELLA STELLA, WHO WAS FOR A MOMENT YOUR COMPANION, AND ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO. CURIOUSLY, BOTH ARE BENINESE. IS THERE A REASON FOR THIS?
No, it's just the fact of chance, the journey of an adventurer who loved travel. I did, in time, a big show in Togo and Benin, which had a lot of impact. Cella Stella was there. She was young, she went to school and sang at the weekend in a cabaret. We went to her cabaret and she came to see me to tell me about her desire to be a great singer. Some time later, in France, I spoke about her to my producer who accepted that we take her under our thumb if I wrote her songs. That's what I did, with success.
It was from there that the parents of Angélique Kidjo met me so that I could take care of their daughter's career. There too, I wrote a few songs that did well, before she left for Europe to find the beautiful career that is hers. She has worked a lot and I am very proud of her career.
HOW DID THIS MUSIC STORY WITH CELLA STELLA BECOME A LOVE STORY, AND WHAT IS IT NOW?
Cella Stella was a beautiful woman, full of talent! His talent thrilled me… I am very sensitive to talent. At all levels. When I see a talented footballer or boxer on TV, I fall in love with them. When I see a talented journalist, I fall in love with them. I once said to a journalist that if I was a woman, all the talented people would take me… (Laughs).
So I first fell in love with the talent of Cella Stella, before loving the woman. From our relationship, a boy was born, Johnny Ekambi. Afterwards, I left for the United States, I fell madly in love with America – I had already been since my childhood! - and I kind of forgot about Cella Stella…
DO YOU KNOW WHERE SHE HAS BEEN AND WOULD YOU BE READY TO WRITE HER NEW SONGS?
I think she is in Paris. I don't know if she still has the same talent. But, yes, why not, if she asks, I will write new songs for her.
ÉKAMBI BRILLANT, AS A PAINTER OF SOCIETY, HOW DO YOU DREAM OURS FOR THE NEXT DECADE?
I trust Africa. And I have a good reading of events, even political ones... I had, for example, said that Barack Obama was going to become President of the United States, when during a stay, I saw his presence, listened his speech, etc. I have a knack for identifying people, through their image on television, the timbre of their voices... If I weren't an artist, I would be a great marketing professional...
AND NOT A POLITICAL?
Nope…
BUT WHY NOT? YOU KNOW HOW TO READ EVENTS, YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO FORECAST THEM…
No, I don't plan. But I know how to read events. I have a good reading of life. I know when we cheat, tinker or try to scam... And I also know when it's cool! (…).
YOUR DREAM FOR AFRICA?
Africa must be free and democratic. Africans should be happy and good about themselves. And may Africa win everywhere! This is my dearest dream.
© Serge Mathias Tomondji
In Notre Afrik N°2, August 2010
