Monday, July 8, 2013

MBOA URBAN MUSIC MIXTAPE VOL 1: MEET GEE REIGN


Hello DC readers!! So a few weeks ago we brought you a post about the newly launched Mboa Urban Music site and mixtape put together by a young lady by the name of Esther Naah and her team. If you missed our post go here. Esther is a young entrepreneur who is passionate about music and whose speciality is marketing and communications so we are definitely expecting more contribution from her!

The Mboa Urban Music online portal has as its objective to be the platform that permits Cameroonians and those lovers of Cameroonian music around the world to discover, listen, share, download and talk about the rising urban music scene.

The mixtape was well received and it sure did create a massive buzz online revealing the thirst and hunger towards great quality Cameroonian urban music from the public.

Today, in our post we will like to focus on the artists that we were very excited to discover on the tape and who kindly agreed to be interviewed on DC. We will be showcasing the talents every week so stay peeled on DC!

Gee Reign’s “Things You Do” track is a sensual afropop track that sure caught our attention. The artist is a refreshing addition to the rising music scene. Below is our interview with him.

Happy reading y’all!!

DC: Thank you Gee Reign for accepting to talk to Dulce Camer!
Gee Reign: You’re welcome and thank you for inviting me.

DC: How are you?
Gee Reign: Very well thank you.
 
DC: Where in Cameroon are you from and where do you live at present?
Gee Reign: My mom is from the North West  Region (Bamenda), where I attended/completed my primary education and most of my secondary education and my dad is from the South West Region (Mamfe precisely). Presently, I reside in Yaoundé.

DC: Okay. So if you were to find 2 million francs CFA on your doorstep, what would you spend it on?
Gee Reign: lol… I’ll invest it in my career, though it’s not sufficient enough to take me there but it will sure make a difference…lol that’s a funny one!!

DC: Great answer though! Your track “Things u do” is very sensual. What do you find attractive in a woman?
Gee Reign: Intelligence. I adore an intelligent woman with a sense of direction, a woman who knows exactly what she wants. Beautiful, humble and Godfearing, those are the qualities that I find attractive in a woman.  

DC: Nice qualities you seek eh! We are loving you more lol!! If we were to ask your friends to describe you in 4 words, what would they say?
Gee Reign: Very Ambitious, intelligent, Funny, and Humble.

DC: Give us a brief insight into your music career. We hear you used to be based in Nigeria.
Gee Reign: Yeah. I moved to Lagos (Nigeria) in 2009 and through the years, I’ve acquired lots of professional experience and as a result, I find myself doing a lot of things. I’m a producer, singer, rapper, song writer and a TV Host. I recently released a 15 track Pre-album titled “Through Your Eyes” which included songs like “Blowing Ashes”, “Follow It” and “Things You Do”.  I’ve also released couple of singles like “No One” featuring Magasco and ‘’Njang (Deeper Meaning)’’. These songs/videos can be downloaded on reverbnation.com/geereign or hulkshare.com/geereign

DC: How different is the Nigerian urban music scene with that of Cameroon?
Gee Reign: The Nigeria music industry has come a long way. They were able to initiate and improve on other sectors that contributed to the growth of their industry. I think they better understand the business of “Showbiz”. The Cameroonian music industry on the other hand is at the verge of a break through,  especially with the emergence of young talented artistes like Jovi, Magasco, Museba just to name a few. In my opinion I think what we are missing is the media (TV, Radio, Magazines, Bloggers,) there are little or no platforms that artists could use to showcase their works that is guaranteed to reach out to a larger audience across the country. There is no solid distribution network for album sales across the country, very few interested investors. It can be challenging when an artist is the producer, performer, PR, AR, manager all at the same time. There are very few shows for artists to entertain a live audience. We can go on and on but I foresee a brighter future.

DC: You are right there. So what would you list as an important measure(s) to get the Cameroon music scene to develop?
Gee Reign: I think if all those things I just mentioned above can be initiated and come into play then growth is inevitable. To some extend there’s been lots of improvement, we now have the privilege to read and discover talented Cameroonians around the world on blogs like this and several others out there.  

DC: Yeaah! You were part of the Mboa Mixtape launched a few weeks ago. How did that come about?
Gee Reign: Well I had no idea about the Mboa Mixtape until it was launched, though I was contacted afterwards. I guess they got hold of my song and felt it was good enough to be on the tape. It is a great initiative I must say the industry needs more of such releases.  

DC: That's true too! How did it make you feel being one of the 15 artists chosen?
Gee Reign: It was an awesome feeling, it’s good to know that other people appreciate your work and think it’s good enough to be part of  their own project.

DC: What advice can you give to other up and coming artists out there in Cameroon?
Gee Reign: Dream big, work hard and pray hard. I urge you to strive for perfection in anything you do. That is the only way you can bring out the best in you. Other people's opinion should not discourage you but should be considered wisely, because only you can feel the passion that is burning within. Keep supporting Gee Reign and good music. I love you all.

DC: And what next for Gee Reign?
Gee Reign: More singles, more videos, more collabos and other projects that will be revealed in due time.

DC: Finally, your favourite 2 tracks at the moment are?
Gee Reign: lol … this is a hard one, ermm, I have lots of favourites but my top 2 will be  ‘Mirrors’ by Justin Timberlake and ‘Follow it’ by Gee Reign. 

See, that wasn't so difficult was it!! Thank you Gee Reign for your time and answers.

To keep up with Gee Reign, follow and like him here:

Facebook Page: facebook.com/officialgeereign
Twitter: @geereign 

Soundcloud/Hulkshare link: Hulkshare.com/geereign   
Reverbnation.com/geereign

Catch up on some Gee Reign music below.


And that's it from us here at DC.
Follow us on Twitter: @Brownschuga

Stay sweet
Dulce
xxx